Partner Building
by GiorgiaKerr
Summary: Booth and Brennan have an interesting partner building assignment. BB, as always. Final chapter up!
1. Preparation

Spoilers:

**Spoilers:** Neh. Tell me if you think I should continue! Feedback is loved, as my wonderful current reviewers know. I appreciate anything you have to say!

**Disclaimer:** We just found a creepy-as spider in my house. Ew. I think it's a funnelweb. Again with the ew. At least it was dead. But it may have little baby funnelwebs running around my house...Eeeeew.

**Author's Note:** I should really be finishing my maths homework. But, seriously, I understand it fine, and I'm going to fail the test _anyway_. There's really no point. So fanfiction it is! This chapter is dedicated to my awesome parents who spent the last day of the holidays perusing a wool-goods showroom. Oh, and I'm fully aware that this would never actually be an assignment, but for the sake of fan_fiction_, it is.

* * *

Brennan and Booth gawked at Cullen. He was sitting in front of them with a very self-satisfied smile flickering on his face. Booth looked mainly awkward, from what Cullen could see, but he appeared to be thinking very hard about it.

Brennan, on the other hand, was not going to be so easy to convince. She was glaring at him with what he could only describe as a terrifying passion. He almost squirmed under the gaze. This, he was not used to.

"Doctor Brennan, I-"

"No."

His jaw clenched as Booth remained silent. "Doctor Brennan," he began again, his voice claiming all the authority it could. "This will only-"

"No. I am _not_ doing it. I'm not a part of the FBI; I don't have to be doing this!" Cullen had never heard her so...distraught. Cullen changed tack after glaring at Booth.

"If you wish to continue working with Agent Booth, you must do this, Doctor Brennan. It is required. You are not the only two being assigned to this. I cannot make exceptions based on _your_ personal preference." He was forcing himself to keep his voice level at this point. Brennan could all but hear his vocal cords contract with every word.

Brennan and Cullen glared at Booth again. His head snapped up. "What?"

Before Brennan could begin, Cullen stood up and talked directly to Booth. "Agent Booth," he said, his voice still strained. "Please wrangle your partner before I do something I regret." His jaw clenched again, and his hands balled into fists as he made for the door.

Brennan glared after him. It was bad enough he was making her do this. Then he ignores her, talking only to Booth. Then he tells Booth to 'wrangle' her.

Booth looked over at a fuming Brennan. Bad move. As soon as he did, Brennan took it as a cue to begin yelling again.

"Wrangle? What the hell does he think I am? Cattle?" she cried. "He can't make us do this, Booth! It's totally unorthodox, not to mention unethical and blatantly ridiculous!" Booth almost laughed at her outburst, but was too afraid he'd get hurt. Or become her next target.

He tried for reasonable passivism. "Come on, Bones, it's only a week. One week is easy. And at least this time we don't have to talk about our feelings," he said, shuddering deliberately. "I don't want to do it, either, but, you know, I'd...I want to stay partners with you, Bones. Cullen doesn't joke about that sort of thing, you know."

Brennan looked at him, a little of the anger gone. "It's just so stupid. I mean, a week is a long time, Booth! I could do a lot in a week. But no, I'm stuck in a house in God knows where with you." She sighed loudly, throwing herself back in her chair violently and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Geez, don't hold back," Booth muttered. He sighed. "Look, Bones, if you don't do this, Cullen will hold good on his promise. We don't have a choice. It's not like I don't have better things to do, either," he said evenly, trying to play out the logic. He wasn't sure if it had worked.

Brennan stared at him from across the table. Her brow furrowed. "Fine. But I'm doing it against my better judgment. I'm doing it under protest," she said bitterly.

* * *

Angela screamed as loud as her shock permitted. Brennan glared at her. "Ange, this is not something to squeal about," she said.

"Are you mad? Of _course_ it is, Bren," she said, rolling her eyes. "You are doing partner building with Booth. For a week. Alone!" She jumped up and down in her chair. Brennan made a noise of dread.

"No, Ange, we won't be alone. There's another two people staying with us. For some reason, the FBI decided that their previous attempts at 'partner building'," she hooked two fingers in air quotes, "Didn't work."

To Brennan's disappointment, Angela's enthusiasm hadn't appeared to deflate at all. She started again. "That's probably because it's stupid and pointless, and people either like each other, or they don't. If they're friends, they're friends. Sticking them in a house together for a week is more likely to _damage_ a relationship, anyway!" she said. She was near hysterics. Again.

Angela was still unmoved, smirking at Brennan from her chair. "Trust me, Bren, when I tell you: it will not damage your relationship." She enunciated everything perfectly, staring Brennan down. Or at least trying to.

"No, Ange. There is a reason I've never lived with a man before!"

"Fear of commitment?" Angela suggested smugly. Brennan glared at her, but decided not to dignify that with a verbal response.

"And ankle bracelets! What the hell is with that? This assignment is _deranged_!" Brennan buried her face in her hands, trying not to think about what she was getting into. Angela was silent and Brennan looked up.

"Ankle bracelets? You didn't mention that before. You have to wear ankle bracelets?" she squealed in laughter. Before she could become hysterical, Brennan spoke.

"Not literally, Angela. It was a metaphor," she said curtly, rolling her eyes. It reminded her why she was usually so literal. "We just can't leave the house. They're bringing us food, and anything else we might need. We can take our things, but we're not allowed cell phones? Argh!"

She hadn't any anger left, so she slumped on Angela's office couch, her head in her hands. Angela moved to sit beside her. She rested a hand one Brennan's knee.

"You'll be fine, Bren. Look on the bright side; you have a week without Cam breathing down your neck," she said, grinning.

Brennan just stared at her skeptically.

* * *

"So, where are we?" Brennan asked flatly. Booth looked over to her. They were the first words she'd spoken all day. "Are you going to stare at me, or are you going to answer me?"

Booth rolled his eyes. "No need to get grumpy, Bones. It isn't like we're going to have an easy time living together for a week; you being snippy won't help," he scolded. Brennan's glare told him not to push it. "I don't know, exactly. It's an FBI safe house that they don't use anymore, for whatever reason." He shrugged and lifted their suitcases out of the trunk.

"They did some developing just over there," chimed in another of the agents they were staying with, Agent Rice. "It's not so safe anymore. You can see straight into the house from basically any of the western facing apartments, see?" he said, pointing across to a multistory apartment complex about a quarter-mile away.

"Of course, you need binoculars," added his partner, Campbell. They both laughed. Booth and Brennan just looked at each other.

* * *

Brennan, Booth, Agent Rice and Agent Campbell sat in the boringly furnished lounge room, staring at their new surroundings. The FBI had just left the previous furniture there, adding only a few extra armchairs and a larger table. To Brennan's relief, there were no knickknacks or tacky rip-offs of turn of the century impressionist paintings, like there seemed to be in most places like this.

The house was big enough for all four of them to have an almost-comfortable amount of personal space, but still forced them to share as much of it as possible. There was one bathroom for the men, and one for the women; each of the four had a bedroom; there was one kitchen and a large living room, decked out with a TV and DVD player.

There was a generous collection of DVDs and generic novels filling a glass-doored cabinet in one corner of the room. To Brennan's displeasure, there was also a shelf entirely dedicated to board games. The kind of board games that were so easy that she almost always lost.

"So," Booth started. The other three agents looked at him. _Great icebreaker, Booth_, he spat at himself. "Agent Campbell, Agent Rice, do you have first names? Or would you prefer formalities?" he asked. He sounded like he was trying too hard to be genial. Mostly, he just sounded bored.

Brennan looked at the two agents. She figured may as well learn their names. A week could be a very long time.

Campbell took charge. "Please, call me Laura," she said. "This is Alex."

She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear with long, slender fingers. At first sight, she had looked like an FBI agent. She wasn't unattractive, but lacked any sort of personality to her features. Her hair was just past her shoulders, tied back in a loose plait. Her dress sense was equally as generic; black pant-suit, cut well to fit her tall, slim frame, though not flattering in any feminine sense.

Her blue eyes seemed to be forever watching. Brennan imagined she was a very good character reader.

Her partner looked as if he'd been cut from the FBI handbook. His short dark hair was cut very similarly to Booth's, though he had obviously put some time into exactly how he wanted it to look before going to work each day. He, also, was not bad looking, but lacked any sense of physical personality.

Both were roughly the same age as Brennan and Booth, and had been working together about as long, which was why they were both assigned to the same training. Cullen had figured it was pointless to send in pairs who'd been working together for any less than two years, and any more than seven.

Less than two years, and they're still getting to know each other. Partner building would drive them, more likely than not, to failure. It was better to know, and be able to tolerate, bad habits before doing something like this.

More than seven years, and it was likely that they already knew each other well enough to be useless in the trial of such an iffy assignment.

Booth and Brennan, Laura and Alex seemed to be the best two to fit the criteria.

Booth looked around again. Silence has fallen as soon as the question had been answered. "So, can anyone here cook?" he ventured, hoping to start conversation, but really wanting to know. He was hungry.

Lauren nodded. "I cook a little. I mean, I'm not brilliant, but..." she shrugged. Booth almost laughed at her false modesty. He settled for a smile while Brennan rolled her eyes. Alex patted her shoulder in an oddly platonic gesture.

"Don't be silly, Laura," he said. He turned to Booth. "She's an excellent cook." Laura flapped a hand at him.

"Oh, stop, Alex, you'll make me blush!" she giggled. Booth looked at Brennan helplessly. These two reminded him of two teenagers. Making fun of people. He couldn't believe that they had such an odd way of communication. But then, most people didn't quite get the relationship he had with Brennan.

But at least they acted like adults.

"Bones makes _the best_ mac'n'cheese," Booth pointed out, rather pointlessly. The other two agents made him a little uncomfortable. Bones smiled at him, and he winked at her.

Alex looked at Laura in a what-are-they-doing way. She shrugged, and then frowned, watching them. They stared at each other for a few more seconds than totally necessary and then looked back to the other two. Brennan was grinning as she spoke.

"So, do you two like Thai food?"

* * *


	2. Sunday

**Spoilers: **Whatever. None, I don't think.

**Disclaimer: **Whatever. I do own Laura and Alex, by the way...

**Author's Note:** Um, the Tempe in the books is a little claustrophobic, so I used it here. In case anyone was wondering what on Earth I'm talking about. Not much else to say except that I hope you like this chapter!

* * *

"Bones!" Booth screamed. Brennan's ears pricked up. She was on the top floor of their temporary house. Booth had gone downstairs to "explore, like a normal person". "Bones!" he called again.

Brennan was at the stairs in record time. _Probably fell down some stairs_. A smile made its way to her lips. _Maybe we can leave..._

Her thoughts turned to shock, however when she ran down the last flight of stairs, into the dark basement, running smack into Booth. _Well, he can stand_.

"Excited to see me, Bones?" he asked. She looked up at his grinning face as she pulled herself away from him quickly. Now she was just confused.

"Booth, I thought you were hurt!" she breathed. She could just make it out as he clutched his chest where she'd just run into him.

"Well, I think I am, now," he teased. She smacked his arm a little too hard. "Now that was uncalled for, Bones." She shot him a warning look. He grinned again. "But I'm touched you'd come running at such a speed if I was actually injured..."

Brennan looked down, embarrassed at being caught out. "I wasn't worried about you," she defended. "I was actually thinking that if you were injured, we could get out of here." She sighed wistfully. Booth laughed.

"Bones, we've been here for-" he looked at his watch "-and hour and a half." He shot her a skeptical look, but a smug glint lit his eyes.

Hers narrowed. "And I already hate it. Anyway, what were you yelling about that only _sounded_ like my escape?" He smiled at her, then grinned like a child, grabbing her hand and putting his finger to his mouth in a gesture of quiet. She stared at him.

He flashed his eyebrows, then began to lead her further into the basement. "Booth-"

"Shh! You'll spoil it!" he scolded in whisper. She rolled her eyes, but didn't make a noise. She tripped a little, not even being able to see her feet anymore; it was a big basement. Booth whirled.

"Bones, you okay?" he asked worriedly. Brennan sighed tiredly.

"Yes, Booth, I'm fine," she said, sounding bored and annoyed. Booth smiled, glad she probably couldn't see him. He didn't reply, instead turning back around. Within five seconds, he'd found what he was looking for.

"Aha! Prepare to be excited..." he said in the best magician's voice he could. Brennan waited silently to show her impatience. He dropped her hand and took her shoulder instead, thanking God when he didn't accidentally grope her in the dark.

A beam of light appeared as Booth opened the wall. There was a bunker, much like one would imagine a bomb shelter, only much smaller; uninhabitably so. It would 'comfortably' fit three or four people, though, for perhaps an hour or two.

It didn't look much like it was meant to be used for any longer. She hoped it wasn't. Enclosed spaces weren't her thing.

She looked expectantly at Booth for an explanation of why this was so amazing that it warranted lumbering around in a dark basement for longer than should ever be done.

"It's a secret room, Bones!" he said excitedly. She couldn't help but smile a little at his expression of pure wonder, like a child who is seeing a dinosaur skeleton for the first time. His expression fell a little at her words.

"Of course it's a secret room, Booth. It's a _safe-house_. If there wasn't a room like this, it would be significantly less safe, now, wouldn't it?" she said condescendingly. He frowned at her.

"Party-pooper."

* * *

Brennan and Booth stared in amazement. Alex and Laura had been sitting in the lounge-room for an hour playing Eye Spy. Besides the fact that there really wasn't anything to 'spy' in the bland room, it was somewhat sickening to see two grown adults playing Eye Spy at all. Let alone for an hour.

"Something beginning with...'S'!" declared Alex as if he'd just discovered the cure for cancer. Laura looked around the room critically, scanning everything from top to bottom.

Booth looked at Brennan and nodded to the kitchen, which was separated from the lounge-room-slash-dining-room by a breakfast bar. Brennan nodded vigorously. It was still far enough away to go without being heard if one spoke quietly.

Besides, if the FBI had any respect at all, they would have left them with at the very least a bottle of wine.

Booth cheered as he found one without even having to look. Brennan grinned. _Maybe it won't be so bad..._

"Screen!" came a shout from the lounge room. Booth nearly dropped the wine glasses he was holding. Brennan looked at the other two agents in shock. They were laughing as Alex shook his head.

"Nope, guess again!"

Booth looked at Brennan. "I wonder if they're high, or something," he said, leaning closer. Brennan smiled conspiratorially.

"Just give me some wine, please," she said. Booth grinned and handed her a glass. They both leaned against the bench and looked into the lounge room to watch the other two. Brennan nearly snorted in laughter when Laura yelled.

"I've got it! Shelf!" She looked to Alex for confirmation, and he high-fived her excitedly.

Brennan put down her now-empty glass. "And you say _I'm _socially inept?" she scoffed quietly.

Booth grinned. "Of course you are, Bones." She shot him a look. He shrugged, lifting his glass to his mouth. "But at least you're smart," he grinned into his glass. Brennan rolled her eyes in agreement and moved out of the kitchen to the stairs.

"Oh! Doctor Brennan!" She swiveled. Alex was looking at her expectantly. She looked at him oddly.

"Um, call me Temperance..." she said, more automatically than anything. It seemed appropriate for her to say; most people said something like that when she was on 'level' ground with them.

"Temperance, Booth, we were thinking of playing a board game, would you like to play the Game of Life?"

"It's more fun with four people," encourages Laura. Brennan looked at Booth.

"I don't know what that means." She glanced around the room. Booth was standing still, looking as if he was trying to figure out how to politely refuse. The other two were staring at her. She shifted, uncomfortable under their gazes.

"What?" she asked barely hiding the hostility in her voice. She didn't want to make the week worse if she could avoid it.

Laura looked at Booth. "What does she mean by that?" she asked, sounding as confused as she looked. Before Booth could answer, Brennan lost her temper.

"I am here, you know. And what do you mean, 'what do I mean'? Why are you asking Booth?" she demanded. Laura looked shocked now, as Booth moved between them.

"Bones," he said to get her attention. "She didn't mean offence, okay? Just come and play. It's a game." He looked at her hopefully; she looked cautious. The other two shared a look. It seemed to say: What is up with those two?

Booth took her silence as a sign she wasn't angry anymore and put a hand one her arm leading her to the table where the other two were silently setting the game up.

Brennan sighed as she sat next to Booth on one side, the other two on the opposite side. Laura started.

"So, are we ready to start?" she asked brightly. Booth hadn't remembered the last time someone had recuperated from a verbal attack from Brennan, except himself and her other colleagues. They all nodded.

* * *

"I do not want to get married, Booth!" Brennan was nearly yelling by this point. Booth laughed.

"Bones, it's just a game," he reminded her for the fifth time that round.

"I don't care if it's a game, Booth. It's a matter of principal!" she told him sternly. "Marriage is an archaic constitution that was most likely put in place to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted births!"

Laura and Alex stared at her in shock. Marriage apparently struck a nerve. But Booth remained calm. It was as if they'd had the conversation before. Laura looked at Alex and he shrugged, both turning their attention to an annoyed looking Brennan and an impatiently amused Booth.

"Bones, it's a child's game!"

"That's better?" she demanded. Booth mentally kicked himself; they could be there a while. "It shouldn't be drummed into children from birth that the only way to love someone, or the only conditions under which sexual relations are acceptable is through marriage." She gave him an icy glare.

Alex briefly wondered just how bad their breakup had been.

Booth rolled his eyes, again as if he'd heard it all before. "Bones, no one is proposing to you. They're tiny little plastic blue poles! They aren't there to start anthropological warfare!"

Laura braced herself for a screaming match, but relaxed when it never happened. Brennan and Booth simply tried to stare each other down for a few minutes, before Brennan picked up plastic husband and smiled frostily at Booth. He grinned in response and victory and took his turn with a smug expression.

Looking at each other helplessly, Laura and Alex shrugged and continued the game. Brennan's only other outburst was when Booth exchanged his wife for Alex's, telling them she was too "nagging".

"Just a game, Bones," he said just loud enough for her to hear, patting her shoulder in finality before she could argue.

* * *

"Bones?" Booth called from the doorway. "Psst, Bones!" he whispered loudly. Brennan stirred. He didn't want to go into her room for fear of scaring her. He also wondered briefly if she'd packed her gun. He decided that Cullen had probably disallowed it; shooting your partner tended to be slightly counterproductive when it came to bonding.

"Booth?" he heard. She didn't' sound too annoyed, so he moved about a metre into the room. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

Then again.

"Sorry to wake you," he lied. "I'm going to go sleep in the secret room, wanna join me?" he asked playfully. It didn't sound like innuendo, it sounded like a sneaky child who is just learning to break the rules. Brennan rolled her eyes from her pillow.

"No, Booth, I'm comfortable," she said flatly. He could hear the sleep in her voice. "Go back to bed." It wasn't an order, really, just a suggestion. She sounded like a tired parent. _Lord knows, he needs it!_ She thought.

"Aw, come on, Bones! I mean, we're stuck here all week, we may as well have some fun," he said, shrugging. He moved further into the room. She turned to face him completely.

"Booth, go away." Her attempt at anger had been slightly skewed by her yawning.

"Not until you come with me!" he said playfully. He wasn't going to let up. Brennan tried for logic.

"Booth, it's probably freezing down there!" she said, raising her voice. Booth stood at the foot of the bed and took a fistful of Brennan's blankets. Brennan stared at him, wide-eyed.

"No, Booth," she warned. He grinned at her.

"Come with me."

"No. Don't you dare."

"Come with me."

"Booth!"

"Fine, it's up to you. But I'm stealing your blankets. Like you said, it will be cold down there," he said cheekily, tugging her blankets far enough to make sure she was in fact wearing pyjamas.

He almost giggled as he watched her grab for the blankets and try to keep comfortable. It wasn't really that cold. It was just annoying. "Booth!" she shrieked. Booth laughed.

"Shh, Bones! They're gonna think we're doing something inappropriate," he said suggestively. Brennan seemed to miss the innuendo entirely.

"Yeah, well, one of us is. Now give me my blankets back!" He pulled them down further, allowing himself only a short amount of time to stare at her.

"How about if I carry the mattress down? Will you come then?" he asked innocently.

"Booth, I can carry it myself!" she hissed. Instead of looking outdone, he looked triumphant. Brennan realized she'd as good as given up. She glared at him; he'd trapped her. More than anything, she wanted to sleep, though.

"Fine." Getting up, she flung a blanket around her shoulders and stormed out of the room. "You can get the mattress!" she snapped over her shoulder.

She was out the door before Booth grinned punched the air in victory.


	3. Monday

**Spoilers:** Meh.

**Disclaimer:** Mel Brooks is one of the funniest people of the twentieth century.

**Author's Note:** I deliberately made this snippety, almost montage-esque, deliberately. I wanted to kind of show the mundane passing of the day. So if you're annoyed by my snippet-ing, sorry! I hope you like this chapter!

* * *

A wall. Two walls. Three, four.

She looked up from her pillow and counted automatically, blinking furiously. Another nightmare? She breathed heavily; the air was thick. She was not dreaming. She forced herself to focus in the dusky grey of the room, trying to take in all her surroundings. But all she could see were the walls.

She sat up and immediately got off the mattress on the floor, barely registering the cold under her feet for fear. On her way to what looked like the door, she ran into something, eliciting a grunt. She steadied herself, reaching for the door as fast as she could, hands shaking.

As she gripped the door handle, her hands slipped off, shaking and sweaty. She wavered. She was terrified.

A hand gripped her shoulder and she spun, knocking her assailant to his knees. "Bones!" he called, sounding worried. She stared at him, shocked and disorientated. He stood up, bending down to look her in the eyes. "Bones." She slammed herself into his chest, hands gripping his shirt. He put his arms around her cautiously, one hand into her hair, one on her back. They stood like this for a few minutes before Booth spoke. "What's wrong, Bones?" he whispered.

She blinked a few times before turning around, some composure regained, and trying again to open the door. As her hand shook, Booth took it in his, leaning across and calmly opening the door with his free hand. She stumbled out the door, leaning against the outer wall, breathing as deeply as she could.

Booth followed her out slowly, not wanting to freak her out any more. She leaned against the wall, head down so that her hair fell in her eyes, hands on knees.

"Bones? You okay?" he asked cautiously after a few seconds. Brennan looked up, almost her normal colour again, and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. She knew somewhere that it wouldn't hold his questions off, but she hoped that just this once, he would leave well enough alone. He didn't.

"You are _not_ fine," he said, trying to keep his voice soft. "Bones, you freaked out in there." He pointed a hand towards the room. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Did you have a bad dream?" he asked, as if he were talking to a four year old.

She laughed at his question. "No, Booth. I just..." she looked at him and shrugged. "I don't like enclosed spaces." She turned to leave, acting nonchalantly.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry!"

She swiveled. "What? Why are you sorry? It isn't your fault," she stated, clearly confused. Booth stared at her.

"For making you come down here with me. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known," he pleaded. Brennan looked thoughtful.

"You're right; it is your fault." And with that, she set upon the stairs.

* * *

"You two are up late!" Laura called as Booth ran after Brennan into the kitchen. "I didn't see your bed, Doctor Brennan. What's going on? Where were you sleeping? And Booth." She shot them an indiscernible look, swiveling her finger between the two. "Are you two sleeping together?" she exclaimed, as if she'd just connected the dots.

Alex physically straightened in his chair across the room. Brennan glared at her, while Booth tried to decide how to react. On the one hand, it was right to be annoyed by the assumption. On the other hand, he thought it was freaking hilarious. He settled for disconcerted.

He let Brennan take over the anger.

"What? Just because Booth and I are male and female, and we work closely together, does _not_ mean we're sleeping together!" she cried. It sounded more desperate and exasperated than it was obviously intended. She sounded like she'd been telling people for years. Well, there were a few she had been...

"I'm sorry, I just assumed when your mattress was gone...wait, then where is it?" Laura asked, now just confused and a little wrong-footed.

Brennan shot a look at Booth before making for the coffee maker grumpily. This was not a good morning.

Booth leaned over to Laura. "She's not a morning person," he whispered. Laura giggled and Booth grinned for the first time that morning. Brennan rolled her eyes at the sight, though she'd not heard what Booth had said.

"Where's the mattress?" she asked eagerly, thinking she'd made ground with Booth. She hadn't, and he didn't want to give up his hiding-place. He only winked at her and moved into the kitchen to help Brennan.

Laura looked at Alex and shrugged.

* * *

"We could play Blackjack?" Alex suggested, the deck sliding comfortably through his hands as he shuffled the cards in a gesture of second-nature. Booth stared at the cards uncomfortably, shifting in his seat.

They'd been sitting at the for about ten minutes, having eaten lunch about a half hour ago. They'd decided that they may as well eat together, because it gave them something to do. Brennan, of course, looked as if she had things she'd much rather be doing, but Booth figured that they probably involved dead people, so he left it alone.

Suddenly, though, she was animated. "Yes! Blackjack! I like Blackjack. I'm good at it," she said decisively. Laura and Alex looked a little stunned by her bluntness.

As the words clocked in the silence, Booth shook his head, holding up a hand. "No way are we playing that, Bones. No way," he finished, folding his arms over his chest. Brennan all but pouted.

"Why not? Because I'm good at it, we can't play?" she asked icily, as usual misinterpreting his words. He rolled his eyes, then focused them on her.

"No, Bones, that's not why." Alex and Laura were on full alert now, wondering what was going on. "We can't play because you cheat," he finished. Brennan frowned.

"But it isn't cheating! I told the people in the casino, but they wouldn't listen to me!" she tried, knowing she was losing the argument.

"Yeah, Bones, just before they kicked you out," he said pointedly. Alex laughed. Brennan and Booth looked at him, completely having forgotten he was there.

"She can card count?" he asked in awe. Brennan shrugged.

"Of course," she stated. Alex cocked an eyebrow. Of course?

"She's a genius," Booth said with a shrug. All nonchalance. Laura perked up.

"Really?" she asked, sounding awed as well. Brennan frowned, wondering why she was suddenly the centre of attention. Besides, this wasn't what she'd been arguing about. She hadn't finished that one yet. She figured that she may as well answer, however, if only to get them to stop staring at her.

"Yes, I am. Why does that surprise you?" she asked. Booth laughed quietly. She always managed to say the wrong thing. Laura and Alex looked slightly confused for a second. Alex held up the deck.

"What about Poker?"

* * *

"You don't want me to answer that." He sat up, drawing his legs up the couch to give her room to sit with him.

"Booth, I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't," she pointed out, handing him his coffee.

"Thanks." He took a sip. When he spoke he sounded resigned but sure. "Can you give me another question, please?" He looked so imploringly at her, that Brennan decided she'd let him have his way. Or at least let him think he was having his way.

She thought for a few seconds, blowing on her coffee. "When did you start taking me seriously?" she asked finally. Booth laughed, annoying her.

"Well, I couldn't really have taken you any other way, Bones," he said. Her question was supposed to put him off, not amuse him. But now _she_ was put off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice raising. Both grinned, tipping his half-empty mug at her.

"Well, Bones, you're not exactly Mel Brooks," he said with raised eyebrows. Laura and Alex turned their attention away from their own conversation to hear her reaction, both trying not to laugh.

All she said was, "I don't know what that means."

Laura and Alex just stared at her, open-mouthed. Booth, on the other hand, seemed to get incredibly agitated. "Never? You've never heard of Mel Brooks? That's bad, even for you, Bones!" he exclaimed, unbelieving.

Brennan frowned. "So what, I'm an exception?" she demanded, as usual hearing the least important part of his speech. "That's bad, even for me? What's that supposed to mean?"

Laura rolled her eyes dramatically at Alex, and then they turned back to what had now been dubbed their 'in-flight entertainment' by Alex and the 'best spectator sport of all time' by Laura.

"Never mind, Bones. Never mind. Just let me do something." With that, he got up to call the agents that were doing their shopping and request some 'educational' films. Brennan turned back to her novel.

"Wow," whispered Laura, giggling. Alex joined in.

"I know. It's amazing how quickly he can settle an argument!" Alex laughed quietly. "If you were like her, I think I'd have quit a long time ago..." he teased. She hit him playfully.

"Shut up. If I were her, you'd have tried to get into my pants by now," she stated, knowing she was right. He raised his eyebrows in consideration, then nodded in agreement. They were still laughing as Booth walked back into the lounge room, his walk self-content.

Brennan ignored him and all his cockiness completely. "Dude, you look like you just ate a turkey!" Alex said. Booth shot him a skeptical look. What the hell kind of analogy was that? What the hell did that actually _mean_?

Turning to Brennan, he took the book out of her hands, earning a cold stare. "What now, Booth? Did you finally come up with a good comeback?" she asked, her voice matching her stare.

"I have good comebacks, Bones, you just don't _get_ them," he bit back. If Alex was brave enough, he would have whistled. That was, indeed, a good comeback; better than he could have mustered against 'Bones'. He made a mental not to ask about that nickname later as Brennan rolled her eyes.

"I don't get them because they're stupid, Booth. They never make sense!" she defended half-heartedly. They weren't really arguing; they were sparring. Either that, or stir-crazy.

Booth grinned as he sat down again. "I know you are, but what am I?" he chanted as he'd often heard Parker say to his friends. Brennan threw her hands up in frustration.

"Booth, that doesn't make sense!" she cried desperately, knowing she couldn't win if Booth wasn't being serious. When he was, he inevitably lost. She was just smarter, simple as that. But when he was being stupid, she had no defenses. She had no clue.

Deciding to change the topic, she leaned over and tried to grab the book out of his hands. "Give me my book back, Booth," she warned. Her tone alone could have made a small child cry. Never mind her expression.

To Laura's shock, though, he smiled. "Make me," he challenged. To everyone but Brennan, they looked as if they were flirting.

"Booth," she started, staring at him, perhaps a foot away. "I _will_ hurt you." Booth hoped it was an empty threat. She really could hurt him if she wanted to. And she looked as if she really did.

She spoke quietly, though, so Booth took it as an excuse to lean in closer. "What makes you think I won't like that?" he asked in a far too sexual whisper. Laura and Alex gawked, completely uncomfortable now. But they couldn't bring themselves to look away; it was like picking a scab.

Brennan, finally, was silent. It wasn't that she could think of nothing to say. At least thirty different comebacks went through her head in an instant.

It was the look he was giving her; the tone of his voice. He was teasing her, she knew that, but she could see the almost-hidden desire in his face. She'd seen the look on enough men's faces to recognize it for what it was. They stared at each other for a few seconds, completely having forgotten about their audience.

"Now," Booth began finally. "Can I tell you what I came in here to tell you?" he asked calmly, quietly. She rolled her eyes for the purposes of dignity, then nodded.

"As long as you give me my book back afterwards."


	4. Promotion

**Spoilers:** Hm. Not that I know of. Well, not really. I don't know. Nothing important.

**Disclaimer:** I hope you like this chapter. It's pretty much pure fluff. I want apple juice...

**Author's Note:** This is dedicated to all my friends for a last-minute arrangement of pancakes, waffles and apple tea this morning! **Couch!**

* * *

"Seriously? _That's_ your news? You interrupted my reading for _that_?" she demanded, more incredulous than annoyed. Snatching her book back, she rolled her eyes. She was relieved to see that Booth had had enough sense to keep her page. Booth, in turn, rolled his own eyes. Neither noticed the knock at the door, nor Laura leaving the room.

"Bones, it's not 'nothing' news! It's _Mel Brooks_!" He spread his hands in a shrugging gesture. She picked her book up pointedly.

"Hey," he began. "Look on the bright side!" She looked at him blankly over the top of her book as if to warn him. He grinned. "We have something to do tonight."

"More than something!" Laura gloated as she walked into the lounge room from the front door holding a bag of DVDs and a very generously sized bottle of liqueur. Grinning, she set it down on the coffee table in the living room and moved to the kitchen to find glasses, handing Alex the DVDs.

Booth laughed as Brennan stared intently at the bottle. "You look like starved dog with a carcass," Booth teased. Brennan rolled her eyes, but put her book down as Laura returned with the glasses.

She jumped when the first DVD started up, making Booth laugh again. "Shut up, Booth, I'm trying to watch the movie!" she snapped. He pushed her back into the couch, virtually drowning her in the pillows.

"Shut up, yourself, and sit back and relax, Bones. This isn't something you'll have to write a report on," he reminded her. She raised her eyebrows in challenge.

"We actually do have to write a report on it, remember?" she said condescendingly. "Cullen wants 'feedback'," she reminded him bitterly. Booth thought for a second.

"Huh," he grunted before handing Brennan a glass of the thick liquid off the coffee table. She smelled it and took a sip, coughing.

"Who brought this?" she exclaimed, looking at Laura.

"Agent Powers; a rookie. They make him do the running," she laughed. Brennan raised her glass in an oddly normal gesture.

"I think they should promote him," she said with a smile. Booth decided to take a chance while she seemed happy and reached out to ruffle her hair playfully. She simply turned her head so she could give him a look of confusion. He laughed and 'subtly' ran his hand through her hair and down her shoulder before turning his attention to the DVD. Brennan stared at him a few second longer before turning to the TV.

_That was odd_.

* * *

"You know, Doctor Brennan," Alex began. "Oh, sorry," he slurred, "_Temperance_, I never picked you for a drinker." He took another sip of his drink. He'd managed to stay relatively sober, somehow, and now was just laughing at the rest of them.

Laura was asleep in her chair; Booth and Brennan were sitting side by side on the couch, not quite touching. He sat in his chair across from them. They'd somehow managed to watch all five of the movies that the young agent had brought without falling asleep, with the exception of Laura.

But, then, that was as much the alcohol as anything. Booth had consistently reminded Brennan that they didn't have to work the next day. So she'd obliged.

Booth scoffed. "Bones? Not a drinker? Ha!" he laughed. Brennan pouted.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" she asked haughtily. Booth sighed heavily, but ignored her, and spoke to Alex.

"There was this one time when Bones and I had-"

"Shut up, Booth."

"No, really, it was hilarious. We-"

"Booth, shut up. Drink." She shoved a glass at him, frowning. Booth obliged without much thought. He held up his glass.

"To 'partner building'," he said ironically. Alex laughed as Brennan rolled her eyes. Laura mumbled something in her sleep, and Alex looked between her and his two companions on the couch. Understanding his obligation towards his partner, Booth nodded at him. Shaking her by the shoulder, Alex woke Laura and helped her upstairs.

Booth sat back and sighed, linking his hands behind his head and sticking his legs out, ankles crossed. Brennan did the opposite and curled up on the other end of the small couch. They sat with closed eyes for a second before Booth spoke.

"It's BS, all of it," he said decisively. Brennan frowned in question.

"All of what?" she asked, sighing. He sat up.

"This partner building crap," he said, waving a hand in an all-inclusive gesture. "I mean, I already like you, Bones." He tipped his glass at her then took a sip. Brennan smiled at the compliment.

"And I you, Booth. But what's your point?" she asked. She didn't necessarily want to change topic, she just wanted to know. Inquisitive by nature and profession.

"My point _is_: That I, for whatever reason, continue to like you. So what are we doing here?" He shot her a look that told her he really wanted to know. He wasn't complaining, or angry. Like her, he was just curious. Brennan shrugged.

"I told you it was a stupid idea," she pointed out. Booth nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose you did..." They were silent in consideration for a few second before Booth exclaimed, "Hey! You like me!" Brennan laughed and rolled her eyes, pouring herself another drink.

"Astute observation Agent Booth," she said, giving him a mock salute.

"You like me!" he teased in sing-song, irritating her. "_Like_, like!" he insinuated.

"Shut up, I do not." She could barely hide the panic or the smile from her voice. The alcohol wasn't helping, either. Booth waggled his finger at her, grinning.

"Do so! You like me!" he taunted. She smacked his arm, then was suddenly calm and dead serious.

"Shut up. I do not. And stop being childish. How old are you, twelve? Go play with Sweets," she bit back. Booth feigned horror.

"Oh, that's too far!" he yelped. Brennan laughed. "And I'm not childish..." He studied his glass, then grinned at her. "I'm drunk!"

Brennan snorted cynically. "You most definitely are."

* * *

Brennan stopped as soon as they reached the top of the stairs, suddenly slightly more sober. Booth put a hand on her shoulder for a second before removing it.

"Want to brave it?" he asked. Brennan looked down for only a second.

"Hell no." She didn't move either way. He put on a calming voice. She only found it condescending.

"You have to face your fears, Bones," he said. Despite his teasing, she could hear concern in his voice. She looked at him, suddenly playful.

"Yeah, well, I can't _shoot_ mine," she retorted, smiling sweetly. Booth glared at her.

"Ha, ha. Funny, Bones. Pick on the man who shot the clown." She giggled. "Just go down."

She did as she was told, gripping the railing as tightly as she could. At the bottom of the stairs, she paused, her hand refusing to let go. Booth turned around and patiently removed her hand, keeping hold of it until he opened the door.

"We can keep it open, if you'd prefer?" he offered. Brennan shook her head.

"No, you're right. I have to face my fear," she winced. He could hear the determination in her voice, and closed the door slowly, giving her time to protest. She didn't.

She sat on her mattress carefully, controlling her breathing as best she could. "It's all in my head," she whispered to herself. Booth looked up, smiling encouragingly. She continued to talk herself calm as he pushed his mattress over towards hers.

"It's all in my-" she noticed Booth. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked with a laugh.

"Well, now you won't be scared," he said as he continued to drag his mattress, placing it against hers to form one big bed. Brennan raised her eyebrows.

"And why not?" she asked skeptically.

"Because, silly, _I'm_ here!" He rolled his eyes as if it were something that shouldn't need explaining. Brennan laid down, ignoring his proximity as much as possible and closed her eyes.

"Go to sleep, Booth."

"Come here, Bones," he sulked. Brennan rolled her head to see Booth holding up his blanket and patting the space next to him. She rolled her eyes.

"No." She saw him pout.

"Why not?" he asked, sounding offended and sulky.

"Because you'll grope me," she stated simply, closing her eyes again and rolling over so her back was to him. She heard him gasp exaggeratedly.

"Hey! I will _not_! Geez, Bones, I thought you had a _little_ respect for me!" he scoffed, feigning offence.

"Go to sleep, Booth," she repeated. He was silent for a few minutes, then he giggled drunkly.

"You said 'grope'!" he exclaimed. He laughed harder and Brennan hit him with a pillow to little effect. He continued to laugh. "My Bones said 'grope'..."

Brennan sat up. "_Your_ Bones?"

_Oops_, he thought, mentally slapping himself. That was something only _he_ was allowed to hear. _Not anymore, Mr. Mouth_.

"Um, not 'my' as in the possessive 'my'," he fumbled. To his shock Brennan laughed. He thanked God for inventing alcohol. With any luck, she'd have forgotten that by morning.

"Yeah, Booth. Yours," she laughed again. He stared at her. What was she talking about? As he watched her laugh, though, he decided he didn't really care. It wasn't often he got to see her laugh.

"Bones?" he asked when she finished laughing. He heard a moan of acceptance. "Goodnight," he said quietly, leaning over to give her a slightly-drunk hug. Brennan was a little surprised by his act, but she didn't complain. Booth nuzzled his face into her hair for a little longer than necessary, breathing deeply, before pulling away, smiling. She smiled back, then turned onto her side, hiding her grin.

"Just go to sleep, Booth."

* * *


	5. The Morning After

**Spoilers: **Nope!

**Disclaimer:** I'm sorry about the lack of updates!

**Author's Note: **They took my computer away! I've not had it since…Thursday, so here's an extra-special fluff-filled chapter for you all! Enjoy!

* * *

As his eyes opened automatically, Booth stuck a hand to his face, covering his eyes protectively. The light from the small ceiling-height window was enough to invoke hangover responses. "Ugh," he groaned. His head whipped around to Brennan when he grunted, suddenly remembering her presence and hoping he hadn't woken her.

He hadn't. She was sleeping as soundly as she'd probably slept in months. He was jealous; his head hurt, his eyes hurt, his mouth was dry. He wouldn't have noticed these if he hadn't woken up. _Women and their alcohol!_ He scoffed to himself, laughing quietly as he imagined the expression on Brennan's face if he had have said that to her.

Or the bruise he would have developed.

Smiling, he watched her sleep for a few minutes. Her blankets were exactly where they were when she'd fallen asleep, thrown haphazardly over her in a feeble attempt at getting to sleep quickly. Her back was to him, but she was so close! For his sanity's sake, he reached over and pulled her blankets up to her shoulders.

He needed to touch her, but was afraid what he would do if he tried to refrain completely. So he settled for the most easily justifiable gesture. _'Sorry, Bones, you were cold'? Yeah. Right_, he thought to himself dryly. Still, he pulled her hair from her face, letting his fingers linger on her neck a moment longer than necessary, swallowing thickly.

He pulled his hand away gently but quickly and stood up to leave, making himself a little dizzy in the process. He hesitated for a minute, worried about leaving Brennan in the room by herself. He didn't want her to freak out again, but decided that he'd risk it in lieu of a cup of strong coffee. She looked like she could sleep through a nuclear holocaust.

"Morning!" Laura called as Booth rounded the corner from the stairs into the kitchen. He nodded in acknowledgement, not quite ready to speak yet. She laughed, and he was amazed at how well she'd recovered from the night before. He hadn't had that _much_, but it had been strong stuff.

"So that's where you've been hiding, huh?" she asked innocently, pointing to wards the stairs to the basement. Booth nodded as he poured two cups already-made coffee and dug around in the fridge for the milk. He held up a finger as he took a sip.

"Ah," he sighed happily. "Now. Why aren't you feeling like crap?" he asked, giving her a Charm Smile. She laughed again.

"I don't get hangovers," she said, opening the newspaper sitting on the bench next to her. Booth looked at her jealously. She only laughed again.

"Lucky you," he mumbled. "Now, speaking of which, I'm going to go give this to Bones." He pointed at the coffee. She normally woke up at abnormally early times, figured she'd be getting up soon.

Laura looked up, a frown creasing her brow ever so slightly. "Why 'Bones'?" she asked curiously. Booth looked a little lost.

"_You _want one?" he asked, pointing to the coffee maker. She shook her head, smiling.

"No, no. I mean: Why do you call her 'Bones'?" she asked. Recognition suddenly dawned on his face.

"Because she's a forensic anthropologist; she's a bone lady," he said simply, shrugging. She thought for a second.

"Yes, but why do _you_ call her Bones? Does anyone else?" she asked pointedly. Brennan had been right to assume she was a good character reader. Booth grinned.

"Oh!" he said, feigning realization. "You mean the _real_ reason!" Laura laughed and nodded. Booth picked up the two mugs from the bench and made his way to the stairs. On his way past Laura, he leaned close.

"Because she hates it," he whispered conspiratorially.

* * *

Setting the coffee down at the head of her 'bed', Booth proceeded to tidy his own. He couldn't think of anything to do, and he really wanted to avoid more prying questions. He, in truth, hadn't told her the real reason. Hell, he'd straight out lied.

Well, at first it was true. She hated it. And she looked so hot when she was agitated, he couldn't help himself. He'd left those details out. He was the kind of person who liked to wind people up, and she was so easy. He'd liked the way she had leaned in so close to tell him off. "Don't call me Bones!"

It had been virtually the only thing she'd said to him for their whole first case.

Then, she'd stopped telling him to stop. He'd almost stopped then, just to annoy her. But he liked calling her Bones. It was something no one else called her. The nickname was a term of endearment, whether she knew it or not. He called her Bones mostly because it was something that separated him from all other people in her life; it singled out their relationship.

As if on cue, Brennan started to stir. Booth grinned as her hand shot to her face as his had. In an oddly childlike gesture, she grabbed her blankets and yanked them up over her face, rolling onto her other side. Booth laughed, and the blankets were pulled tentatively half way down her face.

She groaned at the sight of his smile, and moved further down the bed. Booth laughed again. "Bones..." he sing-songed. "Wakey, wakey!" She made a noise that sounded like an irritated decline. He chuckled and sat down on her mattress, deliberately annoying her. Time to have some fun; he'd been introspective enough for one hung-over morning.

"Go away, Booth," she mumbled. Booth jumped up and down slightly.

"But, Bones, I brought coffee!" he said brightly. A head appeared from underneath the blankets suddenly. Booth grinned, producing the mug as she sat up.

"I think you drunk a little too much, yourself," she said, rolling her eyes. Booth laughed.

"Coffee or alcohol?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. She took a sip of her coffee, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Both," she smiled. She took another sip, stifling a yawn and trying to shake the sleep from her head. It hurt. She closed her eyes again and put a hand to her forehead, awkwardly rubbing her temples. Her eyes snapped open when Booth took her hand from her head and put one hand on either side of her face, continuing the motion with his thumbs.

He smiled at her. "This isn't easy to do with one hand," he said nonchalantly, motioning to her mug with a nod of his head. She looked at a loss as to how to react. She seriously wanted him to stop, but it felt so good! She closed her eyes, figuring her mental health was probably a little more important than her pride at this very moment.

Booth forced his breathing to stay level. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but it looked as if he'd already succeeded in doing that. He settled for silence, concentrating on exactly what he _was_ doing, instead of what he _could_ be doing. To his relief, she broke the silence.

"Anthropologically, acupressure has been around for thousands of years, you know," she started. He didn't stop her rant. He relished the fact that her eyes were still closed, taking it as a small victory; an acknowledgement of his effect on her.

"Yeah?" he encouraged. She didn't miss a beat, now actually wanting to tell him, not just wanting to break the silence.

"Yes, some late Paleolithic remains show evidence of acupuncture..."

He'd stopped listening by this point. He wanted to, to be able to take an interest, but he was far too captivated by her mouth. _Stop staring at her lips, Seeley!_ He yelled internally. His eyes didn't move. He heard her call his name and his eyes snapped up to meet hers. Open.

She was staring questioningly at him. "What?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her question. Not quite getting the meaning behind his staring, she asked again.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked. He studied her for a few seconds, before smiling, deciding to play a game, instead of make an ass of himself.

"Yeah, you do," he said playfully. She put her hand to her mouth, wiping at the nonexistent something. He studied her for a few seconds, using his hands to turn her head from side to side.

"Oh, no, sorry," he said regretfully. She raised her eyebrows at him, her hand stopped moving. "It's just your nose." He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, swiping at him half-heartedly with the hand that had just been on her mouth.

Still grinning, he sat up on his knees, moving behind her. She turned her head to give him a quizzical look. "What are you doing, Booth?" she asked, sounding more bored than curious. He put his hands to the base of her skull in response.

Her head dropped forward automatically. She couldn't deny, even to herself, that it felt good, but she told herself that was just because her headache was gone as soon as his hands met her neck. And as far as she was concerned that was because he was good at massaging.

Nothing else to it.

Booth silently cursed himself for not thinking this through before he did it. He had to concentrate equally as hard not to kiss her neck. What made it harder was that now she was actually responding, physically.

_Damn it, Seeley. What the hell are you doing to yourself?_ His brain screamed. His hands didn't move from her neck. "So, what was that about acupressure, Bones?" he asked to mute the silence. Brennan, again, jumped right in.

"I was saying that…"

Booth stopped listening to her words, focusing on her voice. Her voice was calmingly familiar. Being in a strange house had more of an affect on him than he would have admitted to anyone. He liked his space, and he liked his things. Now they weren't here. But Bones was. Besides, her words never made sense, anyway, and it kept his mind off less _sentimental_ subjects.

"You're very good at this, Booth," he caught. He looked at the back of her head and smiled.

"Yeah? You think so?" he asked. He wanted to know.

"Mm," she sighed in agreement as his hands moved to her shoulders. She was boosting his ego, and it wasn't helping either of them stay in control. "But you have to stop." Booth's hands didn't stop.

"Oh yeah?" His interest was easily piqued, now.

She mumbled in agreement.

"Why?" he challenged. He wanted to hear her say this. She thought for a second.

"Because you're too good at it," she decided. Booth chuckled; maybe he was getting somewhere. "I can't lift my coffee."

Booth was instantly torn between laughter and tears. On the one hand, it was a very Bones thing to say. On the other hand, there were so many other things she _could_ have said instead. He settled for laughing quietly and removing his hands. He still couldn't, however, let her have the last say.

As she took a sip of her coffee he leaned forward, his lips to her ear. She stopped.

"Was it worth it?" he asked playfully. Less off put than he would have liked, she took another drink.

"Yes," she lied. "Most definitely."

* * *


	6. Ever Been in Love?

**Spoilers:** Uhh…not really?

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, yeah.

**Author's Note: **Tee hee. This chapter was fun! I hope you all like it! I like the end, myself. But that's just me! Reviews are loved, and thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story so far! **Couch!**

* * *

"I'm not playing that again," Brennan enunciated. No one was listening to her and it was incredibly annoying. She was used to people like Zach hanging off her every word. And not one person in the room seemed to hear her. At least, not in the way she'd have liked.

"You know what, Bones? You're a party-pooper!" Booth scolded. Brennan frowned threateningly.

"That's the second time you've said that to me this week, and I still don't know what it means. You should be clearer when you speak, Booth," she added as a final jab. Booth, as he did so often, spun the comment back on her.

"Yeah, Bones, because you always speak so clearly!" he scoffed as he placed the little cars at the place marked 'Start'.

"Of course I do. One doesn't get three doctorates and still struggle with speech, Booth," she said condescendingly, missing the sarcasm. Booth's eyes shot heavenward.

"I'm talking about your Squint-speak, Bones," he sighed. He didn't know why he even bothered with sarcastic insults with her. "The left spatula and the left, internal, paradoxical clavicle with the transitional scoring pattern. See, Booth?" he mimicked, earning a cackle from Alex and Laura.

Brennan stared at him, torn between anger, amusement and confusion. "Booth, that doesn't make sense! Half the words in that sentence weren't even relevant, and what the hell is a 'spatula'?!" She was growing slowly hysterical, and Booth was having fun.

He prodded her shoulder. "It's this one, here, Bones. Geez, I thought you should know that. Some anthropologist you are!" he huffed, as if purely exasperated by her lack of knowledge. Brennan rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away.

"That's a _scapula_, Booth; not kitchenware," she snapped. "And I do _not_ sound like that!" Booth grinned and handed her the dice as she fumed.

"Sure, Bones," he teased. "Whatever. Just play."

Alex and Laura flinched when Brennan threw the dice a little too hard onto the board, ricocheting onto the floor. Brennan fell back in her seat, not amused. Both laughed at her childish behavior before dramatically bending down to check the dice.

"Four!" he cried as if he were playing golf. Brennan glared at the board, as if willing it to burst into flames. Booth put the dice on the table before Brennan moved. She shoved her piece forward four spaces.

"Oh, great," she moaned. "Now I'm married _and_ have kids…"

* * *

"You don't want kids, Temperance?" Laura asked from her armchair. They'd settled back into the lounge room after Booth kicked their butts at the Game of Life. Twice.

"No," she answered bluntly without any emotion. Laura frowned.

"Why not?"

Booth groaned from the other end of the couch. "Don't get her started!"

"Shut up, Booth," both women replied instantly. Booth pulled a mocking face and motioned Alex to the kitchen. _Women_, Booth decided, _are the reason men eat so much._

"I have no use for children," Brennan said straight off. Laura almost choked at the choice of wording.

"All respect, Temperance, but 'use'? You don't 'use' children," she corrected, a little shocked. She knew Brennan was blunt and scientific, but this just seemed…cold.

"Okay, you don't use them. Then what? I'm happy how I am now; I've got my books, my work. God, Booth keeps me busy enough irrespective of my _other_ work!" she corrected.

"Hey! I do not! I _keep_ you from working yourself to death, Bones!" Booth called from the kitchen through a mouthful of sandwich meat. At the expressions he was met with, Booth turned back to the mayonnaise jar. Alex chuckled.

"But what about leisure activities?" Laura asked.

"I work," Brennan answered.

"No, I mean: What do you do in your _free time_?" she emphasized, wondering how Brennan could be so oblivious. Brennan raised her eyebrows ever so slightly.

"I understood the question, Laura," she said frankly. "But I work. In my 'free time', I go over cases from Limbo, or read, I suppose. If that counts," she added bitterly. Laura almost physically flinched.

"What do you like to read?" she asked, sounding like she was talking to a child.

"Anthropological journals, mostly," Brennan replied casually, her head seeming to be somewhere else. Laura felt like crying; she was getting absolutely nowhere with this woman.

"Okay, then," she began slowly. "Try this: What do you do that doesn't involve anthropology?"

"Nothing," Booth interrupted. He was met with ice, but quickly found something very interesting in his food.

Brennan stopped. She had to think about that.

"I like music," she finally decided. Booth laughed from the kitchen. Brennan found herself smiling. Laura and Alex looked totally confused. Had they missed something?

Laura looked hopeless, too. She wasn't sure, anymore, whether Brennan actually _should_ be a parent. She persisted anyway, bringing everyone back to the topic.

"Maybe if you had kids, you wouldn't have to work so much," she tried. Behind her, she heard Booth scoff. She ignored him.

"But I like working," Brennan protested. Laura sighed. She'd have to think of another way to get through. She was meeting roadblocks; brick walls.

"But you can't work forever. Maybe one day you'll find a guy, and you'll fall in love, and you'll _want_ to have kids," she said, just catching herself before mentioning marriage.

Brennan shrugged. "Love is illogical." Booth laughed again, knowing Laura was getting nowhere, not that he didn't _want_ her to...

_Must have had this conversation_, Laura decided. "Love is not illogical!" she shrieked, sounding annoyingly like Angela. Brennan rolled her eyes.

"It's like fear, or anger. They're illogical emotions. They're caused by chemical reactions in the brain; they're products of the environment we've been brought up in. If someone is brought up in a violent society, they're much more likely to be violent. If people are told from birth that 'God'-" she used air-quotes "-is going to send them to hell if they sin, then they will fear sinning. Fear," she concluded. Booth rolled his eyes, finally annoyed.

"Bones, what have we said about digs on my religion?" he asked, frowning.

"I didn't say anything, Booth. You did," she pointed out with a careless wave of her hand. "What I was _trying_ to say; was that almost everyone feels anger and fear, for social, religious, chemical, scientific, _anthropologic_ reasons. Love is the same," she finished with a self-assured shrug. It always amazed her that her explanations didn't ever seem to convince people.

All three were staring at her now. Booth looked amused and troubled, Laura shocked and Alex considering. At least someone was having an open mind to her thoughts, she thought. Either that or he was just trying to figure out what on Earth she was talking about.

Booth looked interested now, rather than skeptical. "But you have fears, Bones. You're claustrophobic," he pointed out. "How can you rule out one and not the other?" His expression became slightly challenging, and he was sure he'd have her stumped.

"Because I know my fear is irrational," she stated easily. Booth moved into the lounge room and perched himself on the edge of the couch again. Alex followed and sat in the free armchair.

Laura and Alex both watched in anticipation as Booth continued, Laura whispering, "Twenty bucks says she yells." Alex looked over to her, amusement etched in his brown eyes.

"Twenty says they have another 'moment'." They shook hands, turning their smiles silently back to Booth and Brennan.

"But doesn't that mean that you can still fall in love? Even if you know it's irrational," he added. Brennan opened her mouth, then closed it. He had a point. If it worked for the other, her theory said it had to work for the other.

Booth leaned closer, smiling in challenge. "You can, can't you, Bones? You _could_ fall in love." His tone was teasing, but his eyes were boring into hers.

She shook her head, making Booth's expectant face unfocused. "But I've been afraid before. I've never fallen in love," she challenged. _Oh crap,_ she panicked in the back of her mind. She mentally threw a book at her worries. Booth raised an eyebrow.

Laura's eyes were huge and Alex shoved a hand over her mouth to stop her from shouting. _Never?!_ Laura shouted in her head. Alex was watching intently, hoping to win the bet. Laura looked at Brennan's expression as she stared at Booth who was dangerously close. _Bull shit; never!_

"What about Sully?" Booth asked cautiously. He knew it was an odd topic between them, but they were supposed to be 'partner building', anyway. Sweets might let them off if they made enough progress. At the thought, he smiled.

"I wasn't in love with Sully, Booth. Why do you think I didn't go with him?" It was rhetorical, and Booth knew not to push her, so he turned in another direction.

"Michael."

"No."

"David."

"No!" she shrieked. "Booth, I went on one date with him!" He paused. _Me?_ He thought. He kept his mouth shut.

"Huh…" _Yeah, Seeley, really smooth._ It was, however, much safer that the alternative.

"What?"

He studied her. "What about when you were a kid?"

"What?"

"You know, Summer Lovin',"he joked, jabbing her arm with his elbow. She stared at him.

"I don't know what that means. But I have a feeling the answer is no," she stated, getting annoyed. "If you are saying with I think you are, children have no real idea when it comes to 'love'." She went on arguing, knowing that she was both losing and contradicting herself.

"Of course they do, Bones. They love their parents, don't they?" he replied challengingly.

"But it's a very different kind of love, Booth," she answered easily. Booth stared at her before grinning widely. "What?" She was a little scared now, however irrational it was.

"So you admit it! Come on, Bones, if you can differentiate between platonic and romantic love, you've got some experience! At the very least you're admitting love is actually a thing."

Brennan gulped. She'd talked herself into a corner again. Fantastic. And now she had Booth's cockiness to contend with. That and his unfair proximity. "Well, yes. But it's illogical," she argued. Booth laughed. Her attempt was so half-hearted; he'd begun to think she'd given up totally.

Still, it was a stalemate; a moot argument. They could go in circles like this for the rest of their lives, and still they wouldn't get anywhere. Instead, they stared at each other. For minutes, they just stared at each other. Until Brennan spoke, her confidence seeming to have been restored.

"Well, what about you?" she challenged quietly. Booth knew the exact question, but he wasn't going to let her have him this easily.

"What about me what?" he asked innocently. She almost corrected his grammar, but decided better of it.

"Have you ever been in love, Booth?" she asked, exasperated. He stared at her for a few seconds as if considering. Alex and Laura remained silent and glued to their seats. They looked as if one sound would shatter the tension between them. Then the bet would be off. And they would have to entertain themselves for the rest of the day. Laura studied their weird intimacy. _Or hour_.

"Yes," he answered finally, his eyes ablaze, solemn. Brennan was shocked by his bluntness. Normally, he would have dodged the question for as long as possible, or ranted about something or other, or changed the subject completely. That, however, was _not_ the reason she found it impossible to think.

"With whom?" she prodded finally. The silence wasn't helping her relax; wasn't helping her ignore the fact that if she moved forward just four inches…

However, Booth's playful side had returned. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased. He leaned closer and Laura watched with fascination as Brennan's breathing seemed to stop. Booth's head cocked to one side, and for a second, Laura thought he was going to kiss her.

"No," Brennan answered abruptly. "I don't care. It's none of my business. I don't want to know." She did know the expression; she knew it was rhetoric. But how he was sitting, talking, _staring_, was just too much.

Her outburst did nothing to dissipate his playful behavior, or the fact that he still wanted to win this. He leaned forward and put his mouth to her ear for the second time that day. She didn't move, too afraid of what she'd do to him if she did. She reminded herself to shoot him when she got her gun back.

"You _don't_ want to know, Bones," he whispered. She could feel him smiling against her cheek. Her hands turned to fists, but she showed no other signs of affect.

At least not visibly.

He let out a long sigh, and Laura watched as Brennan's knuckles turned white. "You really don't."

* * *

Review?


	7. Food Fight

**Spoilers:** Neh. Just review and I'm happy!

**Disclaimer:** Oh, and the last line seems a little cliché to me, what do you think?

**Author's Note: **Well, I wrote this chapter completely, but I didn't like it. It didn't fit where I wanted it to, so I had to surgically remove the end and replace it with another. The other end will be included later (a later chapter), but I didn't like it at this point in the story.

Geez, I'm subtle. Wonder what could have happened!

…Actually, it's probably not what you think…

* * *

"Catch!"

Brennan's hand reached out automatically as a carrot was hurled at her.

"Is that really necessary?" she snapped at the pitcher. He rolled his eyes.

"Duh!" he drawled, drawing the sound out. She flashed her knife at him, only half joking. He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, crazy anthropologist with the knife wins!"

She smiled happily.

"But the potatoes are boiling over."

She let out an uncharacteristically surprised grunt and spun to find the stove covered in water. He laughed and turned his back to his snippy partner.

Since their conversation earlier, she'd been a little touchy. He wasn't sure whether it had been the fact that he'd won, or the content. Or the fact that desire was almost palpable this time.

_Yeah, Booth, _this _time…_ He shook his head at himself and tossed another projectile vegetable at Brennan. When she turned, he grinned as widely as he could. It worked, and she smirked, clearly formulating a payback plan already in her brilliant mind.

"Smells good," Laura clichéd as she rounded the corner from upstairs. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore jeans and a plain baby-blue tee shirt. Brennan figured her home wardrobe was as boring as her work wardrobe. And that was a pretty big amount of boredom to match.

Alex followed closely behind, his hair wet from the shower, also sporting jeans and a tee shirt. There was a name of a band Brennan had never heard of before plastered on the front and back of the shirt.

Brennan smiled a thanks politely and went back to chopping, Booth smiling at her. He looked at Laura and Alex who were seated at the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the lounge room. Booth moved to hand them a glass of wine each, but stopped half way there.

Alex cocked an eyebrow. "Dude, you okay?"

Booth didn't hear him. He smiled. How very…domestic it all seemed. Him and his Bones; these two other people; the wine; the playful fighting. Well, playful on his part…

An image began to form in his mind. A shout of "Mommy, Daddy!" Booth made a noise between a groan and a yell and shook his head. Looking around him he shrugged; everyone was staring at him.

He handed the glasses to Laura and Alex.

They took a sip as Alex pulled out a deck of cards, dealing them both in.

"Sorry," he apologized generically. He cleared his brain of all thoughts Brennan-related. Or tried to. But she had decided upon her revenge.

"Booth?" she whined. Booth forced himself to look at her.

"Yes, dear?" he asked sarcastically. She glared at him. "Bones," he corrected hastily. Sarcasm wasn't helping him have non-domestic thoughts. The endearment had annoyed, however, and she wasn't giving up that easily, leaving her revenge for later.

"You know," she began angrily. "Even if we were married, or dating, because I would never marry you-"

"Gee, thanks for that, Bones," Booth said in mock hurt. She glared ice at him. Alex and Laura subtly peeked over their cards and watched them out of the corner of their eyes, continuing the pretense of playing Go Fish.

"Don't interrupt," she spat. "_As_ I was saying, I would never permit you to call me 'dear'." She took a huffed breath, crossing her arms. Booth thought for a second, as if deciding which emotion with which to reply would be the best. Or safest.

Or most fun.

"Why not?" he teased. She rolled her eyes as if he were unutterably stupid. Stupid, no; masochistic, yes.

"Because it's just another way of a male trying to control his mate, Booth, _that's_ why!" She stared at him, challenging him to refute her. He did.

"So we're 'mates'?" he asked with a playful, and all too annoying, flick of his eyebrows. Her jaw tightened. He was being inane deliberately, she knew that. It annoyed her even more. If he were just stupid, it wouldn't really be his fault.

This was something she'd learned from Booth, actually.

"Shut up, Booth. Why do you insist on annoying me?! You understand perfectly what I'm saying!"

"No, I don't," he pouted. "I really want to know why!"

Alex flashed Laura a twenty from his pocket. She nodded and silently hooked her pinky around his in promise. It seemed more subtle than shaking hands. And she was more likely to win if Booth and Brennan were not interrupted.

"Why? I just told you why, Booth," she huffed, her voice getting louder and about an octave higher.

"No, you told me the anthropological, BS 'why'."

She looked at him, stunned and a little confused. He lowered his voice, but didn't move. "I want to know _why_, why."

"You're not making sense," she said lamely. She turned around suddenly and began on the vegetables. They were likely to be eating soup by the time she was done. Booth's eyebrows drew together and he moved over to the counter, fearing that he'd upset her. More than he intended.

"I _am_ an anthropologist, Booth," she stated without stopping. Booth nodded and leaned a hip against the counter so he was facing her side. When he moved his head to try and catch her eyes, she didn't respond. He sighed and leaned across her, taking the knife out of her hand.

Afraid she would get angry, or angrier, he shrugged. "It's okay, Bones, the vegetables are already dead." After succeeding in the hardest part, getting Brennan to acknowledge him, he cocked his head again, this time meeting her eyes. Her expression was unreadable.

"Whatever it is, don't take it out on them," he said, pointing his newly acquired blade towards the orange and green mush on the cutting board. To his surprise, Brennan laughed quietly at the mess she'd made.

"See what you make me do, Booth? Do you _see_ that mess? That's your fault," she said amusedly but quietly, prodding him in the chest. He grabbed her finger.

"Oh yeah? Was I the one with the knife, Miss Brennan?" he asked pointedly. Her expression of amusement matched his, and she suddenly realized how close they were standing; toe to toe with her hand in his between them.

She took a step back forcedly, but didn't remove her hand from his.

"Guns don't kill people; people do," she quoted. Booth briefly wondered where she'd heard that before. He snorted derisively.

"Moot point, Bones."

Her lips twitched and Booth watched in amusement and adoration as her expression changed. "It's only moot if I can't win this argument," she replied finally, with a small smirk. Despite her brilliance, he was one step ahead of her.

"Trust you to take it literally…" he muttered, earning a small frown. "But one question." Alex and Laura physically leaned forward.

"Yes?" Brennan queried in mock boredom. He could see the challenge in her eyes. And something else. He couldn't help himself. He leaned forward as far as he could without touching her; his mouth barely two inches from hers.

She could feel his breath as he spoke. "How are you gonna win with only one hand?"

* * *

At about midnight, Booth wandered into the lounge room. Alex had gone to bed first, deciding that he was 'Banged', whatever that meant. Booth didn't want to think about it too much. Laura had followed shortly after, deciding that her book was sending her to sleep.

Brennan and Booth had sat in the living room in near silence since then. Booth had kept the TV quiet enough so as not to irritate her, and she'd tucked her legs underneath her and booted up her laptop.

He watched her expression change subtly as she typed, and he wondered what she was writing. A cheeky smile lifted the corners of her mouth at one point, and he couldn't help but ask. She'd barely even glanced at him, so absorbed was she. He rolled his eyes. As he turned back around to the TV, she stretched out a leg and kicked him, retracting it almost immediately.

They'd both grinned to themselves.

Now, as he reentered the room from upstairs, he stopped dead in his tracks. Brennan was lying curled up on the couch hugging a pillow to her stomach, her back pressed against the back of the couch as if she were seeking warmth. Booth couldn't help but smile.

For the whole day, almost all they'd done was argue. And sexually frustrate him to no end. _Thank God she's shut up_, the still-in-denial part of his brain kicked in. He pulled a face at himself and moved towards his sleeping partner cautiously.

They'd been sleeping in the same room for two nights; but his was different. For one, he was far from asleep. There was just something innately _different_ about this. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was there.

He sat on the coffee table in front of her and put a hand to her shoulder. She didn't move. He frowned. _What to do, what to do_, his sarcastic self mocked. Shaking his head, he swiveled his eyes around the room as if there were something else there that could help him.

There was not. But his eyes stopped at her laptop. Smiling, and without much doubt, he scrolled up the page and began to read. He had to know what she was smiling at. As he read, a smile lit his face slowly.

What he was reading was not a sex scene, as he'd previously suspected. She could deny it quite easily, but he knew better. It was an argument, just subtly comparable to the one he'd just experienced.

Only this time, she won. And this time, she kissed him. Hard.

He stared at the electronic page for what seemed like an hour, trying to process the information. He recalled the conversation he'd had at the Jeffersonian about Brennan's unintentional writing style. Angela and Goodman had been right, he knew.

He dared a look at Brennan who was still, to his relief and curse, asleep on the couch in front of him. Sighing, he pushed the screen of the laptop down, his eyes never leaving Brennan. He leaned forward; his elbows on his knees, supporting his suddenly heave head with fists. He closed his eyes.

"Bones, Bones, Bones…" he sighed with a whispered laugh and a bemused shake of his head. He was sure that Brennan was trying to kill him. Or else he was seeing things where 'things' were not. _Sick masochist, Seeley!_

"Mm."

His head snapped up. Had she heard him? "Bones?" he dared. He didn't want her to wake up. Having her this close, this late, in this mind-frame…

No way.

When she didn't move, he closed his eyes in relief. He let his mind wander, and moved off the table onto the floor, leaning a side against the couch unconsciously facing Brennan. When he opened his eyes, he was staring into Brennan's just-opening blue eyes. He grunted, surprised. He figured he must have fallen asleep.

Staring at her, so close, he hoped he had enough self-control. Thankfully, Brennan spoke, breaking the silence. "Booth?"

_Uh, who else, Bones?_ His sarcastic brat of an id carried on. Booth ignored it. "Mm," he managed. _Yeah, much better._ He smiled.

"Booth," she stated a bit more clearly. He was confused; it sounded like an instruction.

"Yeah, Bones, it's me," he answered calmly. She seemed confused, too, now.

"No; _Booth_," she emphasized. Booth moved to sit up a bit more comfortably, meaning to push off the couch with his left hand. Instead, he came in contact with something that was definitely not the couch. His hand was tangled comfortably in Brennan's hair. He didn't move it.

Not daring to speak, he risked a glance at Brennan. She was staring intently at him, her expression forcedly skeptical.

"Booth?" _Are you getting off any time soon?_ she seemed to say. Booth extricated his hand, only to place it back on her head, stroking her hair carefully.

"What?" he asked innocently, a Charm Smile playing on his face. He was too 'just-awake' to care about the consequences of what he was doing.

The problem was: what he was doing was playing with fire. Hell, he was playing with C-4. Mixed with some seriously unstable chemical weaponry. _All we need for a stable relationship is a bomb squad, the fire department and Homeland Security,_ his brain snapped.

Luckily for him, Brennan didn't seem too much more caring then he. "That," she mumbled, her eyes closing as his hand made its way to the base of her skull. He laughed under his breath at her helplessness, his hand repeating this motion somewhat of its own volition.

"Come on, then, Bones. We better get to bed," he said for lack of response; Brennan misunderstood. Her sleepy eyes widened. "No, Bones. I didn't mean that!" He chuckled, and her breathing returned to normal. Mostly.

He smiled at her, amusement and care written in his face. He threaded his fingers into her hair and watched as it fell from his raised hand like sand.

"It's really late…" he whispered, turning his eyes back to hers. She seemed a lot more alert now than before, but he took it as a good sign that she hadn't throttled him yet. "Come on," he whispered, forcing himself to stand.

He held out a hand, but she ignored it and stood up wordlessly, throwing a considering glance to her computer. She hit the save key, then turned it off, all within seconds. As they left the lounge room, Booth's hand found Brennan's and he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. This time, she didn't pause at the top of the stairs.

* * *

Love me?


	8. Getting There

**Spoilers: **I'm too tired to do this…

**Disclaimer:** Whatever. I believe this is officially my longest chapter ever _and_ I believe I am officially very tired.

**Author's Note:** I hope the transitions at the end aren't too bad…I mean, it works for me, but it might be really, really bad. So yeah. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there, don't worry. Here is chapter eight for your viewing pleasure.

* * *

_Thump!_ Breath. Booth's eyes opened groggily. _Thump!_ _Thump!_ Breath. He rolled over and adjusted his pillow. _Thump!_ Heavier breath. His mind began to clear. _Thump!_ _Thump!_ _Thump!_ Brennan was not in her bed. Breathing. _Thump!_ He sat up. _Thump!_

"Bones?" Even so early, his voice was wrought with worry. "Bones!" _Thump!_

He pulled himself out of bed and ran out the door, instincts kicking in. _Thump!_ He ran straight into a sweating Brennan. She gasped in surprise, and he held her at an arm's length. She blinked a few times.

"Bones."

"Yes, Booth. Well observed," she bit sarcastically, slowly. He heaved a breath and closed his eyes with relief.

"I was worried about you," he stated carefully. He opened his eyes to be met with one cynically raised eyebrow.

"Why? What on Earth could happen to me in this house?" she queried, rolling her eyes. He looked thoughtful, then confused. He looked her up and down, his hands still on her shoulders. She was in shorts and a tee shirt, hair pulled back, sweating.

"What _were_ you doing?" he asked, his tone suddenly bemused.

"Well, since I can't leave, I decided to run the stairs instead," she stated carefully. She wasn't sure exactly what Booth was thinking. Which, in itself wasn't abnormal, but he seemed a little on edge this morning. He seemed to understand, but was not impressed with her ingenuity.

"What time is it, Bones?" His voice had a different edge to it again. He sounded annoyed. Brennan shrugged.

"About seven."

"Seven. It's seven o'clock in the morning and you decided to run up and down a wooden staircase for _fun_?!" he scoffed slowly, clearly baffled as to how her logic worked. She only nodded, adding a curt agreement, completely unfazed by his skepticism.

"You work out, though, Booth," she said, pointing to his bare chest. "I can tell. Your muscles are well defined."

Booth cleared his throat and smiled against his will, embarrassed and flattered all at the same time. His hands dropped from her shoulders. He hadn't remembered the shirtless thing when he'd woken up. That and the way she was squinting at him now. _Squints!_ He scoffed inwardly. _They never let well enough alone!_ He shut himself up again, annoyed at the return of his inner cynic.

He smiled and winced inwardly at the thought that this little cynic was probably the one thing that stopped him from jumping Brennan right there.

Instead, however, he just shook his head, heaving a breath. "Come on. Have a shower and I'll make us breakfast." Before she could protest, he replaced his hands on her now-crossed arms and pushed her towards the stairs. She went grudgingly but willingly, afraid of what lengths he'd go to if she didn't cooperate.

She wouldn't put it past him to physically carry her into the shower himself.

Her arms tightened around her chest at this thought.

* * *

"Morning!" Booth beamed to the other two agents currently leaning against the kitchen bench. They both smiled.

"Someone's happy…" Alex mused teasingly, quirking an eyebrow. Laura laughed. Apparently Booth had just missed joke. He dragged out two mugs and a loaf of bread simultaneously.

"Well, Bones wasn't being beaten to death, so it's a good day," he said with a solemn nod, confusing the other two agents. _I have my inside jokes, too!_ his inner child sang, poking out its tongue.

"You guys want French toast?" he offered when neither spoke. They both lit up at the mention of food.

"Sure, if you're making," Laura nodded. Alex was a little more enthusiastic.

"Hell yeah! It's been too long since I've had a real breakfast!"

Booth almost laughed at his enthusiasm for such a strange thing. But, when it came to food, he wasn't really one to speak. And working for the FBI didn't really allow one much down-time for things as menial as breakfast. Not if one wanted to sleep, anyway.

As Booth cooked, Alex poured two more coffees, handing one to a newly returned Brennan and the other he set on the bench next to Booth. Booth didn't notice until Brennan spoke from directly behind him.

"What do you say, Booth?" she teased in her most motherly tone. His head snapped up from the pan and his eyes met hers. He couldn't help but notice how much bluer they were when her hair was wet.

Alex leaned over to Laura. "What's the bet he burns the food?" Laura winked mouthing '10'. Alex nodded.

Clearing his throat, Booth smiled at Alex, flicking his eyes only briefly to the man. They returned to Brennan almost instantly. She was smiling and shaking her head at him. Her eyes were still _so_ blue.

"Booth," she said quietly, nodding towards the stove, breaking eye contact. His eyes followed hers, and he remembered the food which was currently very close to charcoal. He grumbled something, and Brennan rolled her eyes, shoving him out of the way with a palm to his chest.

"Men!" she scoffed half-heartedly. Laura laughed, only to be met with a stare from Booth.

"Hey, Bones! I was doing that!" he whined as if she'd taken his crayon. She glared at him. "Fine."

Brennan grinned and went back to cooking. Booth couldn't resist one last jab, if only to make her look at him again.

"It's a woman's job anyway."

Brennan whirled. "What?" Booth only grinned and Alex hid behind his mug playfully, unbeknownst to the other agent and his doctor. "You, of all people, Booth. Do I _really_ have to go through this again?!"

"Through what, Bones?" Booth asked innocently. He could see her jaw clench and relished in the reactions. He had to make her react to him in some way. So what if his way was sadistic?

"You know what? I'm not even going to bother! It's totally wasted on you and your stupidity. Your ego blocks anything important from entering, anyway." She moved swiftly into the lounge room. Booth followed. Alex leaned over and turned off the stove. They'd be a while.

"You know, Bones, that's physically impossible." He could never resist pushing _just_ too much. Brennan was struggling to remain civil. Or non-violent.

"Shut up, Booth." He opened his mouth and she held up a finger. "Shut up."

"I was only teas-"

"Shut. Up." Her eyes were boring into his. "I _will_ hurt you, Booth." She was only half threatening. Violence really was very close to erupting. Unfortunately, Booth took it as a challenge.

"Oh yeah? How do you know you _can_?" He saw a flicker of something other than anger in her eyes and smiled inwardly. _Get her off the anger. Anything's better than that,_ his logical mind agreed. _Even pain?_ his sarcastic voice countered.

"Because I'm a better fighter than you, Booth," she answered simply, much more calm than before. They stood nearly toe-to-toe in the middle of the lounge room. His eyebrows twitched in amusement and challenge, as his lips curled into a grin.

"So prove it."

Her eyes widened. He was actually _asking_ her to fight him. "What? No, Booth," she said, sounding more bored than annoyed, as if he'd been asking her the same question for an hour.

"Why not? Afraid?" he pushed.

"No!" she snapped. Smiling suddenly, she leaned in and whispered, "But you should be."

And suddenly, he was on his stomach on the floor, his right arm pinned behind him in Brennan's much smaller hand. He coughed, winded. Alex and Laura were torn between hysterical laughter, shock and fright. That woman was not to be messed with.

Booth waited calmly for her to relax, and for his breath to come back, before shoving upwards with his good arm, using the one Brennan was holding to flip her onto her back and pin her down; the arm she was still clutching was now solidly across her chest.

Unfortunately for Booth, he hadn't thought this whole 'fight' thing through. He was now half-laying on the floor, straddling his partner, her knuckles white on his arm and she stared at him with the most complex expression he was sure he'd ever seen.

Either that or his brain was malfunctioning.

Neither moved. Neither wanted to move.

Alex and Laura stared, again feeling somewhat guilty about seeing such a moment, but not enough to look away. The way the partners were staring at each other was easily enough to put the cover of a romance novel to shame. A somewhat smutty romance novel.

Still, neither moved, their breathing seeming to have stopped completely. Then Brennan's hands loosened, only to go pale again when Booth shifted his weight on top of her. Brennan's eyes closed as he did, only to snap open again when his lips found her death-grip. She finally let out a breath as his mouth grazed over her knuckles.

She yanked her hand away.

Booth's eyes met hers, and suddenly, again, he was on the floor. Brennan stood above him for a few seconds before moving carefully to the front door. It took Booth those few seconds to realize what the hell he'd been doing. _Oh, crap!_

He jumped up to follow her just as she was yanking the door open. He grabbed her arm.

"Wait! Bones! You can't go outside!" he panicked. There was a fair chance that if she left now, she wouldn't be coming back. And he wasn't just thinking of the house. She pulled her arm away from him.

"Why not?!" she asked icily. She was on the verge of yelling, he could tell, and he wanted to do something, anything, to avoid that.

"Bones, please…we…we can't leave," he implored. He could see Brennan getting angrier the more he spoke, so he left it at that.

"Booth, this whole assignment it ridiculous! I've thought that from the beginning, but no one's listened to me," she said through gritted teeth.

"Come inside and I _will_, Bones. Please."

"Why? Why shouldn't I just leave now? It'll save us all a lot of trouble." Her voice had become quieter, but the anger was still cutting. Booth's voice, on the other hand, only became more assured.

"Bones, if you leave, they'll break us up. We won't be able to work together anymore." She stared at him coldly for a few seconds before she answered.

"Maybe they should."

It took all of Booth's will not to flinch. The comment bit him deeper than he would ever have admitted. He changed tack.

"Temperance, you are a scientist. Do not think with your emotions."

"Don't call me Temperance!"

In any other situation, the line change would have him rolling on the floor. Now, however, it was just painful. Still, he didn't want her to be angry with him. He didn't want her to leave.

"Brennan, we need to talk. Come inside." It was deliberately half-way between a plea and a command. "Okay. I'm going inside. Come in when you want to." Again, he chose his tone carefully. Patronizing, and she'd probably kill him; cocky, and she'd probably do much worse.

Booth made his way into the lounge room and flung himself onto the couch, burying his face in his hands. He suddenly remembered Alex and Laura and looked up imploringly. They both made for the stairs immediately. He replaced his head in his hands. _What the hell are you playing at, Seeley! Jesus Christ, what are you _doing_?!_ He screamed at himself. Brennan's voice broke through his mental ass-kicking.

"You're right," she began bitterly. This was the last thing he expected to hear. He slowly lifted his head to see a very torn looking Brennan. She frowned at him, but remained standing. It was obviously hard for her to say anything, let alone that. "I am a scientist. I don't think with my emotions. I can't. I won't. It's a sign of weakness," she finished detachedly, as much to herself as to Booth. He opened his mouth to disagree.

"Don't say anything."

He shut his mouth. Brennan remained standing, but was silent for a few lingering minutes. Booth studied the room, trying to diffuse at least some of the awkwardness. Finally, she spoke.

"As a scientist, if I want to keep doing what I'm doing, keep helping the FBI, saving people's lives, _making a difference_, I have no other option than to be your partner," she said flatly; matter-of-factly. "And I can't work with you if there's this going on." Booth's eyes met hers.

"This."

"This, Booth. You can't keep doing that. Doing this." Her usually articulate mind had somehow managed to dissipate, leaving her to speak about emotions in the most detached way she could, which, for whatever reason, involved as few words as possible. Booth watched her face intently from his perch on the couch; he could see the disorder running through her mind. She shook her head slowly as she spoke.

"I know," Booth finally agreed. Brennan's frown deepened in irritation at not understanding.

"Then why do you do it? You know it can't happen, Booth. You know it _won't_. We work together, Booth. There's the line. Your line. There's our bosses. There's me."

Booth's frown now matched hers. "Why you?" he asked quietly.

"I don't do this. I never have. Chances are I never will." She paused for a few seconds. "I'm not attracted to you, Booth," she stated simply. He flinched slightly, linking his fingers across his knees. _Great, Seeley, just twiddle your thumbs!_

He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

When his eyes met hers, her expression had become one of bewilderment. She exhaled sharply. _Oops._

"Who are you to say that?"

Booth, however, wouldn't be put off that easily. "Bones, we need to talk about this." She shook her head.

"There's nothing to talk _about_, Booth," she stated, her jaw tight.

"Don't lie to yourself, Bones. You always say not to jump to conclusions; look at the evidence. Please, sit down and do that with me. Look at the evidence," he repeated, hoping her own words would help him out. It seemed to work. She sat in one of the chairs, and mimicked his position; hands linked, elbows on knees, leaning forward. He took it as a good sign that she was being receptive.

"You kissed me," she said simply, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah. I did."

"You shouldn't have."

"Why not?"

"Because it was inappropriate."

"You kissed me at the hospital." He decided against bringing up Caroline.

"That was different. It was under very different circumstances, Booth; you can't deny that." She shook her head. He copied her.

"No, I can't." He paused, but spoke again before she could. "But does that mean that I can't have my own circumstances?" He looked at her with half a hopeful smile. She sighed.

"There weren't any 'circumstances', there, Booth. Last night, just now…" She shook her head again.

Booth closed his eyes. He was amazed by the fact that they were having a relatively civil conversation. Subdued, even. Both sounded calm; spoke quietly. He recalled their 'The Line' conversation; seemed they became blunt and removed when discussing their feelings. Or lack thereof.

Ironic that if the topic were anything else, they'd be having a screaming match.

_Here's the bullet, Seeley. Now bite it, _his newly acquired snide friend snapped.

"Yes, there were."

She leaned back a little, though her eyes never strayed from his. She didn't have to ask.

"I wanted to, Bones. I can't say anything else; I _wanted_ to-"

"Booth, if everyone just went around doing what they wanted-"

"I'm not finished. I wanted to kiss you. My self-control is painfully lacking, Bones. You should know; you saw me shoot a clown." He grinned and she couldn't help but smile at the reference.

"Shooting a clown is very different from kissing you partner, Booth."

Booth almost sighed with relief. Their conversation had suddenly become almost relaxed; it was suddenly easier. The tension in the room had halved from one joke.

"I don't know, Bones. I think both are about as reckless; about as stupid as each other."

Brennan leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. "Sounds like us."

"Reckless, maybe." He nodded and her eyes opened curiously. "But I think we all know who the stupid one is." She laughed quietly at his self-deprecation until he poked his finger in her direction.

"Hey!" she scoffed haughtily. "I'm not the one who shot a clown."

"Yeah, you're right." She smiled in victory. "You're the one who hasn't seen _Star Wars_."

"That does not make me stupid."

"Yeah, it does."

"How? How does something so insignificant make me stupid?"

"Because you're missing the best movies of all time! Well, the original three, anyway. The new ones? Eh, they kinda suck."

"Oh, grow up! They're just a money-making way of fuelling male fantasies!"

"You did _not_ just say that. And what's not to love? They got violence, romance, implied incest..."

"Booth?"

"Yes, Bones?" He smiled sweetly at her.

"Shut up."

* * *

Acceptable?


	9. Wednesday

**Spoilers:** Nup.

**Disclaimer: **Blah, whatever.

**Author's Note:** Couch! Y'all know what that means! Not _so_ much fluff, but I had to be careful after the last chapter; I couldn't exactly have them jumping each other in the kitchen. Well, I could have, but we won't go there...

Enjoy!

* * *

Alex sat on the bottom step, jaw slack. Laura had long since given up on any form of control and was flopped across, and somewhat up, the stairs, one arm over her shocked expression.

"Ho-ly Hell!" Alex breathed. Laura's arm twitched as she laughed silently.

"You said it, Rice," she whispered back, awestruck.

They'd been around the corner to the living room for a good hour, now, eavesdropping on Booth and Brennan's conversation. And what a conversation it was! Booth had managed, somehow, to quell Brennan's anger. Brennan had managed to use the names of twenty-three different body parts. Alex had nearly collapsed in wonder about three times. And Laura had won a good fifty bucks.

"You want a sandwich?" they heard from the lounge room. Booth. Alex shook his head in bafflement.

"That man can eat!" he whispered. Laura's arm was slung across Alex's hunched shoulders, now, as she heaved herself up, feeling very unfit. She grunted as Alex joined her, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He'd grown to carry it around even inside, now.

Suddenly, Brennan was standing at the doorway, regarding them curiously. Laura blushed just subtly enough for Brennan to miss it. Alex took the reins. "Hey! We hadn't heard anything for a while, so we came back down," he said noncommittally. Brennan frowned.

"Oh. Yeah. Booth and I were just about to have some lunch," she stammered, slightly suspicious. She spotted Alex's hand moving towards his butt. "Wait. Why do you have your wallet out?"

"Poker," he lied flawlessly. "Laura and I know how much Booth hates the game, though we don't know why, so we kept it upstairs." Brennan stared at him for a few seconds.

"Huh." And with that, she returned to the other room. Alex and Laura sighed with relief. Boy, would they incur her wrath if they got caught! And what she gave Booth, she'd give them tenfold.

They walked cautiously into the kitchen to see Brennan staring skeptically at a piece of meat as Booth stuffed it into his mouth.

"Booth, you're going to kill yourself. And, you know, with your job, that'd be a pretty pathetic way to go," she pointed out with a nod. Booth only grinned through the food. Brennan pulled a face. "Ew, Booth. Close your mouth."

Booth did as he was told, but still wanted the last word. After swallowing numerous times, he looked at her. "'Ew'? 'Ew', Bones?"

"What? I may not have seen _Star Wars_, but I know what 'ew' means," she scoffed, pulling apart a very unfortunate lettuce.

"Well I'd hope so, Bones!" Booth laughed as he leaned across her to retrieve the mayonnaise jar. To Laura's shock, Brennan didn't budge; she just rolled her eyes as Booth's arm brushed her side. "What I _meant_ was that you poke around in slime four days out of five, and you say 'ew' to sandwich meat? Ha! Some slime-woman _you_ are!"

Brennan frowned. "Slime woman? Not on your life," she laughed, forcing the mayonnaise jar back to Booth's 'side' of the counter. She pulled out a plate. "Wonder Woman, maybe…" she finished as she left the room.

Alex watched as Booth grinned, obviously very affected by the reference. Laura went to sit with Brennan and Alex moved over to make himself some lunch. And pry into Booth's private life.

"It's all sorted, then?" he began conversationally. Booth was a little off put. It was uncanny to be so conversational about so un-conversational a topic. Booth imagined he'd be a bomb in the interrogation room.

He figured there wasn't any point in skirting.

"Yeah, well, there wasn't all that much to sort." Much.

"Yeah, right, and the chicken married a fox!" Alex scoffed. _What's his obsession with poultry-related metaphors?_ Booth wondered idly. Instead of answering, he shrugged.

As Alex piled his bread, he began again. "You guys have some stuff, don't you?" he asked, a little more sympathetically this time. Booth laughed despite himself. _Some!_

"Well, it really depends on what you define as 'stuff'," he dodged.

"You know exactly what I mean, man," Alex implied, eyebrows raised. Booth sighed. Alex was annoying, but he liked him. And he was really the only one to talk to. At least until he got to see Angela again.

But he feared that may be too late, in whichever way.

"Yeah," he laughed. "We have more than our share of stuff." He nodded, looking off into space. Alex grinned.

"But she's hot…" he said almost absent-mindedly. Booth glared at him suddenly; he all but growled. Alex's hands went up in surrender. "Sorry, man." Booth's jaw clenched.

_Calm it, Seeley! The man didn't mean anything,_ his now-calm half soothed. _Oh, great, _now _you're calm!_ He replied. Shaking his head at himself and at his behavior towards Alex, he patted the other man on the shoulder.

"All good, man. All good…" he trailed off.

"Bones." The name brought him back. "Why do you call her that?" Booth's mind screamed déjà vu.

"You know, your partner asked me the same thing."

"And what did you tell her?"

Booth thought for a second, his attention all on Brennan. When he spoke, he spoke bluntly. "A lie."

* * *

"So."

"So."

"So."

The word seemed to echo around the room in the uncomfortable silence. Brennan and Booth sat on the couch as far away from each other as they physically could. Their conversation earlier had helped with a lot of things, but neither had been totally honest. Well, Brennan hadn't. Booth had just been…choosy.

"Why do you think they go to bed so early?" Brennan blurted out. Something needed to be said, or their heads would probably implode. Booth looked at her strangely for a second before a slightly-naughty smile adorned his face.

"To make with the dirty, Bones. What else?" he grinned, flashing his eyebrows. Brennan couldn't help but laugh, both at the joke, and at Booth. At least, she _assumed_ it was a joke.

"You've been spending too much time with Angela…" she laughed, rolling her eyes. Booth grinned.

"Nah, she's also too busy making with the dirty." He waved a hand casually, as if it was the only logical answer. _Then again, in Angela's case…,_ he mentally quipped. He realized Brennan had gone quiet. "What are you thinking, Bones?" She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before answering.

"I'm thinking that I wish Ange were here," she stated almost wistfully. Booth smiled sympathetically, a little shocked she was being so candid. He wanted it to keep up.

"Why's that?" Her eyes met his and she laughed quietly, self-deprecatingly.

"She tells me what to do," she said simply. Booth frowned in confusion, and she elaborated. "I'm…okay, I'm bad at this," she admitted begrudgingly.

"This?"

"This." She motioned between them with a hand. "And the only reason I'm telling you this is because you were honest with me today, and I believe it's fair to give something back. That, and the fact that we're stuck here for another three days," she added with a smile.

"And we're supposed to be 'Partner Building'," Booth pointed out. Brennan snorted derisively.

"Well that's working absolute wonders," she said sarcastically. Booth frowned.

"I thought we kinda got somewhere today," he shrugged. He wasn't hurt by Brennan's sarcasm, only a little confused.

"Ha! Hardly! We got _back_, if anything."

"'We got back', Bones? We got happy grammar, yes," he said in a caveman voice that could quite easily have been mistaken for Cookie Monster. Or Yoda. She threw a pillow at his laughing face.

"Shut up, Booth. What kind of voice was that, anyway?" she asked skeptically, determined to have the last word.

"It was a caveman voice, Bones!"

"I'm not even going_ into_ the anthropological reasons that that was not a caveman voice, as you so eloquently put it," she huffed. "Sounded more like Tarzan to me. I Tarzan, you Jane," she mimicked surprisingly well.

"_Tarzan_? _Tarzan_ and not _Star Wars_? I wonder, Bones, I really do…"

"Wonder what?" she pouted.

"How you function. Seriously. _Star Wars_…" he trailed off in semi-mock disappointment. She rolled her eyes and threw another pillow at him.

"Will you let up, Booth? I think you've just about run the _Star Wars_ thing into the ground," she grumbled. Booth stared at her, wide-eyed.

"I would _never_ do such a thing! _Star Wars_ must never touch the ground," he added playfully. "That's like…it's…that's…_sacrilege_!" he almost yelled. Brennan shook her head. He was never going to let up. Never.

"Grow up," was what she settled with.

"Bones, you can't grow out of _Star Wars_."

"Argh! You, Seeley Booth, are impossible!" she decided finally letting her head fall back onto the couch for emphasis.

"That's what they tell me, baby," he said, winking. Her eyes snapped open and she raised an eyebrow. _Angry but inquisitive_, he decided. _That tends to be a good sign_.

"Sorry," he apologized. She shook her head, almost sadly.

"You're as bad as Hodgins," she sighed, still shaking her head. He threw her a look of utter horror.

"Oh, that's too far! You take that back!" he scoffed. She laughed at him as he hurled one of the pillows back at her. She caught it. "As bad as Hodgins…freaky little bug-and-slime conspiracy theorist…" he added more to himself than to her. He didn't dislike Hodgins at all. He just made him a little uncomfortable. But then, that could be said for all the Squints.

He looked at Brennan. _Especially her…_he sighed as his less-subtle mind reawakened. He snapped out of his adoration when he saw Brennan's eyebrow slide up. He smiled and turned his attention to anything else that would warrant it.

He settled on the TV. TV was a safe activity. No movement; no temptation. Something to keep his attention. Well, something he could _pretend_ kept his attention. He picked the remote up from the coffee table and offered it to Brennan. It was met with a quizzical eye.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Freak," he added, grinning, as he flicked the TV on. Brennan snatched the remote off him, glaring. "Hey. You compared me to Hodgins."

The remote was returned to his hands.

--

"Bones?"

"Mm?" she offered, half-absorbed in pointing out the discrepancies in the _Law & Order_ script.

"Come here."

Her head swiveled and her eyes met his. "What?"

Booth cleared his throat and looked at her hopefully. Their conversation had cleared a lot up, but of one thing he was still sure: she was lying when she'd said she wasn't attracted to him. He held his arms out.

"Booth," she said in the most warning tone she could muster. The invitation wasn't the problem. Well, it was. But more so, it was the fact that she felt the overwhelming urge to take said offer.

"I do remember what you said earlier. And I respect that. But I'm cold, and uncomfortable and falling asleep," he said matter-of-factly. She stared at him. He'd played the 'respect' card. _Damn him_, she thought bitterly. _And those eyes…Shut up!_ "So are you gonna stare at my beautiful face or are you gonna come join me?" he said, feigning exasperation.

"No, Booth," she said, her voice still warning. At least it meant she hadn't ruled it out completely, Booth surmised.

"I won't try anything, Bones. I promise. Now, do you trust me?" His eyebrows raised in question as she remained silent for a few seconds. _The 'trust' card, too. No wonder this man was a gambler_, she joked lamely to herself. She smirked.

"No, Booth." His hands flew to his heart in a bizarre parody of pain.

"Bones, you wound me!"

"Yeah, and I should more often." His pained expression grew into one of terror. "The very fact that your ego is so big you can ask me to…do that after our conversation earlier…" She shook her head in wonderment.

"'Do that'? You say it as if I'm propositioning you!" he laughed. His face became a mask of seriousness. "Bones, I do not want to have sex with you." _At least, not now,_ he added mentally.

Her eyes widened a little. It wasn't normally Booth's way to be so blunt, but she could tell her wasn't lying. "Yeah!" she scoffed. "Like I'd let that happen anyway!"

"Oh, come on, you so would," he prodded teasingly.

"Shut up, Booth. I'm very close to hurting you."

"Ha! Like I'd let that happen!"

She glared at the reuse of her words. Normally she spoke in such complicated language he couldn't quote her on anything. He took this as quite a victory.

"Sure, Booth, whatever you say."

"Damn right!" he agreed enthusiastically. She closed her eyes as if warding him off and leaned into him. Shocked, he put an arm around her shoulders cautiously. _What the hell brought that on?!_ they both wondered inwardly.

Neither moved for at least ten minutes, getting used to the feeling; savoring it. Subtly, Booth rested his cheek on Brennan's hair. "Hey, guess what," he whispered with a smile in his voice.

Brennan risked a glance upwards in question and Booth pulled his head back; keeping his distance. He grinned at her.

"I'm not uncomfortable anymore."

* * *


	10. Thursday

**Spoilers:** Nope.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. But one thing to say for parents: I'm glad they exist. I mean, my parents are away for one night, and my brothers take it as a free ticket to be obnoxious. I don't fight with my brothers, but now...I'm tempted to begin. Well, either it's them or the fact that I got about six hours' sleep last night. Not my choice, either. I'm a bitter person, I think...

**Author's Note:** Not much to report, though I think my brother's about to blow up the kitchen…Better go see to that. Okay, some introspection, and surprise visitors!! Guess who! And I'm not sure about the end...

* * *

"Good night, Bones."

"Night, Booth."

Booth closed the door. Brennan had forcefully suggested that they keep to their own, designated, rooms for the remainder of the assignment. Booth had protested, arguing that they'd come so far, and that being able to sleep in the same room was proof of that. Brennan had come back with the bizarrely wise argument that by even having this argument they'd not progressed at all.

Eventually, Booth had given up. So they both retreated to their respective rooms, abandoning Booth's 'fort'. They had, however, not bothered to pack up much more than their mattresses and a blanket or two. Half of their bedding was still in the basement.

Brennan decided it was for convenience. Booth was just having attachment issues.

* * *

When the light woke Booth up, he looked around, disoriented. Where was he? And why was Bones not there? He sat up, and the room was warm; definitely not the basement. A chest-of-drawers sat against one wall, a closet to another, the bed and a small table with a lamp to the third. The other wall was bare but for the door.

He groaned and flopped heavily back onto his bed. He'd stuffed things up. Badly.

He and Brennan had been getting into a comfortable relationship; finally. Undefined, yes, but they'd been comfortable in their little room. It may not have carried into work, into the real world, but having that experience was something of a plausible foresight.

He suddenly laughed, wondering how he could possibly have distorted the memory of something that had happened only the day before. _Yes, Seeley. Waking up next to Bones every day? Plausible, my ass…_ he snapped to himself.

Groaning again, he rubbed his hands over his face. He didn't want this to annoy him so much, and he wasn't helping himself when it came to the 'Happy Place'-thoughts. He heard Sweets' voice in his head asking him why he was so mad.

'_Can you express it, Agent Booth? Expression can help.'_ He chuckled when his mental hands reached out and clamped around the kid's neck. _Oh, well that's morbid, Seeley. Laughing…_

He pulled back the blankets, hoping the cold would wake him up properly and give him something else to think about. It did.

He stood in the room clad only in his underwear and let the cold invade his thoughts. He sighed mentally, then grabbed his towel.

* * *

Brennan was already in the kitchen trying to avoid a conversation with a very persistent Alex when Booth traipsed down the stairs looking very bored. His hair was stuck up at all angles, as if he'd towel-dried it and left it. Brennan forced back her laughter.

"Sleep well, Booth?" she said in a mocking tone as she poured him a coffee. He nodded.

"Thanks. Like a rock," he replied noncommittally. She couldn't tell if he was returning the mocking, or being genial. "You?"

"Great," she lied.

"Oh yeah?" he asked casually. Brennan didn't buy it; she could see the challenge in his eyes. She'd known her decision to sleep in her own room had been the only way to go, but that didn't mean that a tiny part of her didn't regret it. _Yeah, Brennan, the female part of you,_ she told herself bitterly.

She nodded. "Mm. Yeah. Toast?"

"But you're up so early," he pushed. His tone was still almost bored, but she could hear the curiosity. Alex silently tried to will Laura downstairs.

"I'm always up early, Booth," she reminded him. Her tone, on the other hand, was slightly warning and a little irritated. He was catching her out, and she didn't like it.

"Not since we got _here_," he urged. _Admit it!_

"That's because I wasn't allowed to work." Alex took an astonished note of the fact that she didn't say '_didn't have to go to work'_.

"But you don't have to work today," he said, a little more cheerily. He sounded happy that she didn't have to work, but Alex suspected it had more to do with the fact that he was winning the implied argument.

"No. But I wanted to write as much as I'm able before we can leave. This environment is surprisingly conducive to writing…" she mused, in her own world for a few minutes. He had to admit; when they'd first met, she'd been a terrible liar. Now, she was almost fooling him.

He wasn't sure whether to be proud or worried of that fact.

"You know, you can sleep with me again, if you'd like," he suggested, his voice deepening just enough to make her shift unconsciously towards him both in challenge and want.

"No, I can't," she protested quietly. They stared at each other for a few minutes, completely oblivious to Alex as he spotted Laura rounding the corner into the kitchen. He immediately put a finger to his mouth, tipping his head to where the partners wee standing in the kitchen about a foot apart, staring at one another.

Laura looked at Alex questioningly, but his attention was already back to the kitchen.

As Booth stared at Brennan, he saw something that nearly made him fall over. Her eyes flicked to his mouth at least three times, each for the duration of a mere blink. But that was three times too many. This was the kind of behavior he expected from himself, not from his stoic partner.

He made up his mind.

"No. No, you can't," he breathed finally. His voice was full of something that sounded to Brennan like regret, but he was also positive. Alex and Laura were both stunned. How was it possible for both parties to lose the same bet?

Brennan didn't flinch; instead standing taller and smiling slightly. She'd won this one. "So. Toast?"

* * *

Brennan looked up from her keyboard as a quiet banging came from just outside the room. When it stopped, she looked back down, deciding she was just going stir-crazy. Then it came again. She tensed and moved towards the sound.

It was the front door. She let out a huge breath as her shoulders relaxed. She yanked the door open.

"You should be very happy that I'm not allowed my gun," she announced to the person on her doorstep, regardless of who it was. Unfortunately for her, it was Cullen. Not that she cared. She was no less bitter about him sending her on this assignment than she had ever been.

"Good day to you, too, Doctor Brennan. May I come in?" he asked. There was acid sarcasm to his civility. Brennan opened the door and led him in, suddenly off put by being alone with him.

She called for Booth and he came running down the stairs, smacking straight into Cullen. Brennan nearly laughed, but refrained, covering her mouth.

"Oh, Sir." Booth cleared his throat. "Sorry. I uh, I though, uh…"

"It's alright, Agent Booth. Just don't make a habit of it," Cullen said sternly. He looked almost as if he wanted to both yell and laugh. It was not a flattering expression. Just as Booth was about to say something most likely very embarrassing, Alex and Laura came down the stairs after him. Laura looked baffled.

Alex looked thrilled. "Yo! 'C'-to-the-shizzle!" he exclaimed, holding his hand up for a high-five. The other three agents stared at him in shock. Brennan was just lost. She nudged Booth's side.

"I don't know what that means." The four agents looked at her, three of them with pitying smiles. It was Cullen's turn to look lost. He cleared his throat. All eyes went to him.

"Now. The bureau was going to send someone over here to check up on you. I volunteered because you are my agents, and this is partially my assignment. Together with Doctor Sweets, we are going to evaluate your progress, both as agents, and doctors, pardon me; and as partners."

Booth and Brennan stared at him. "Sweets?!" Booth exclaimed. "You're sending in Sweets? He's _twelve_, what does he know about playing house?" he scoffed.

"So that's what you've been doing is it, Booth? Playing house?" came a mocking tone from behind them. All eyes were now on the newly arrived Sweets. Brennan audibly groaned, as Cullen grinned and shook his hand.

"Go back to Candyland, Sweets," Booth bit under his breath. Sweets turned to him again.

"You know, Booth, talking to yourself is the first sign of severe loneliness," he warned, only half-mocking. Booth's jaw clenched.

"So. Agent Rice, Agent Campbell, this is Doctor Sweets. He'll be evaluating you some time in the near future." Booth was scared; Cullen was being far too polite. "Now, is there someone who wants to give me a tour?" he asked.

* * *

"Agent Booth?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Is this mess yours?" Cullen asked, sounding terrifyingly like a father trying to get his child to confess so he can punish him. Booth's chest tightened.

"Um, yes, Sir."

"Why is your bedding in the basement, Agent Booth?" Booth was aware of all eyes on him; Sweets' most of all.

"Um." He tossed a glance at Brennan. So did Sweets. She looked awfully uncomfortable. Booth looked like a deer in the headlights. He'd been caught out. "Well, uh, Bones and I decided that this looked like a good…bedroom?" It was an answer, but it sounded more like a question. He was waiting for a hiding.

Sweets choked not-very-subtly on something nonexistent while Alex and Laura stared at Cullen, waiting for his response.

Brennan remained still, folding her arms across her chest as if warding off the incoming comments. Or keeping something _in_.

"Bedroom?" Cullen finally choked out. The poor man sounded torn. The 'director' part of him was angry; the logical part of him bewildered; the emotional part ecstatic and the slow-to-catch-on part confused. All at the same time.

"Well, technically, it was a fort," Booth said quietly. Cullen did a double-take. _What the hell?!_ He wondered inwardly. He settled for rolling his eyes and groaning.

"Agents Rice, Campbell; care for a coffee?" he asked suddenly, turning away from a very sheepish looking Booth. They nodded dumbly, subtly handing a twenty behind their backs. Cullen didn't notice. "I'll let Sweets have his way with these two first."

* * *

"So."

"So."

"So."

"Anyone?"

"No."

"No."

"Fine. We're going to be here until one of you has something to say, you know."

"Uh…"

"I made coffee this morning. I'm done, can I go? 'Cause I really wouldn't mind one of those coffees…"

"No, Agent Booth. Sit down."

"What if we have nothing to report?"

Sweets laughed. "You two? Not possible. Once a fortnight isn't enough for the two of you…" He shook his head amusedly.

"What's that suppose to mean?" interjected Brennan; her first actual sentence since the 'session' had started. Sweets rolled his eyes.

"Look, I know neither of you want to be here-"

"Damn right!" Booth.

"You don't really need to be a psychologist to infer that." Brennan.

"- _But_ the sooner you give me something substantial, the sooner you both can leave."

He was met with stubborn stares.

"Fine. I'll have to lead. And you think I'm a child!" he muttered. "Okay. Tell me…about the basement."

The stares continued, only now they looked a little more perturbed than bored.

"Look, if you're not communicating, the assignment has failed, and you'll be split up," he threatened. That wasn't entirely true, but it worked.

"Fine. What do you want to know?" Booth sighed finally. Brennan crossed her arms and her legs in an almost comically obvious gesture.

"What exactly went on?"

"Went on? Are you implying that-"

"No, Doctor Brennan, I'm not implying anything. Let me rephrase…" his hands moved under his chin in a parody of prayer as he thought. "Why were you sleeping in the basement? And why together?"

Before Booth could speak, Brennan began.

"It was his idea!"

"Yeah, Bones, mature. Just blame me!"

"Well it was your idea, Booth."

"Oh, right. Yeah, it was…"

"Agent Booth, why did you decide to sleep in the basement?" he tried again. _Persistence is key_, Sweets repeated over and over. Trying to ward off impatience with these two was like trying to ward off a shark with a fly swatter; to be achieved, it had to be done perfectly. But the likelihood was that it was simply impossible.

"I thought it was cool," he replied defensively, crossing his arms.

"Now who's being the mature one?"

"Whatever, Bones."

Sweets took a deep breath. "Please. Remember: I get answers, you get gone."

Brennan forced herself not to reprimand his abuse of the English language. Booth looked hopeful.

"Now. Where exactly in the room were you sleeping?" he asked after some consideration.

"On our own beds." Booth.

"Against the left wall." Brennan.

Sweets smiled as he wrote something down. Their answers were so typical, it felt like coming home.

"Well, technically, Booth, after Monday, it was one bed," Brennan mused. Sweets sat up, pen poised. Booth glared at her.

"What?" Sweets breathed, forcing himself not to yell.

"Well, the second night, it was sort of one bed, because Booth pushed his mattress against mine," she stated factually. Booth's jaw tightened.

"Bones," he warned through clenched teeth.

"What? He asked. And I want to leave," she whined defensively. Sweets was still recovering.

"And, um, how, uh…why did you do that, Agent Booth?" Sweets was almost afraid to ask.

"I was drunk! It wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah, but, you weren't drunk the next morning when you –"

"Bones!"

"People!" Sweets called. "Now. Please. One at a time, children. You were drunk?"

"Um…yes…?"

"Huh. But alcohol doesn't force you to do things you don't want to do, does it?" It was actually a question, like he was asking for confirmation.

"It lowers inhibitions by playing with your brain chemistry!" he protested. Brennan looked at her shoes.

"Yes, but inhibition is the thing that keeps us from doing all those things we _want_ to do, no?" Booth was starting to get annoyed over the questions at the end of potentially harmful statements. Booth said nothing. Sweets looked to Brennan.

"How did you feel about that?"

"About what? Alcohol?"

"No, about Booth's actions that night."

"He was drunk."

"I know that, Doctor Brennan. But how did you _feel_?" Brennan wanted to hit him very hard. She wasn't one for emotions, and this was just getting annoying.

"I felt drunk," she answered finally. Sweets dramatically smacked his forehead against the tabletop and groaned.

"Come on, Temperance! Just one word. Please. One emotion you felt." There was silence as she thought. Booth stared at her. He really wanted to know what she'd say. _Probably 'annoyed',_ he thought cynically. Sweets looked incredibly eager, as if he wanted to finish the session and get drunk himself.

"Conflicted."

Both men's heads cocked to one side. The sight would have been comical had not they all looked so serious.

"Conflicted? You had conflicting emotions?"

"Yes, obviously. Now can we go? I've given you one word."

"Not if it's that word," he protested. He was finally making some leeway, and he wasn't prepared to give it up. "Between which emotions?"

She didn't answer for at least a minute.

"Fear and familiarity," she finally said. Booth frowned a little, but couldn't keep the smile from his face. To him, that all but said 'love'. Whether he was right or not, and whether it was romantic or not, he had no clue.

Sweets' face lit up. "Yes? What do you commonly associate these two emotions with, Temperance?"

"Well, I equate fear with enclosed spaces, and familiarity with things that are familiar," she stated simply. Sweets nodded his shrink-nod.

"But together, Temperance, what do they equate to?" She toyed with the question for a few minutes, Booth's eyes boring into the side of her head. Sweets stared at her curiously. When she finally answered, neither was more shocked than she.

"Something I've never quite felt before."

* * *


	11. Twenty Bucks

**Spoilers:** I really, really want to see the _X-Files_ movie! Because, of course, that's totally relevant.

**Disclaimer:** I've redeveloped an obsession with ABBA. What the hell?

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the lack of updates…I've been on school camp for half the week, so. And fretting about a possibly nonexistent maths test for the remainder of it.

And _Bones_ is coming back on! I am so, unbelievably excited right now! This is (finally) the episode where Sully comes, I think. So I should have some fun. But, really, we're only up to there. Australian broadcasting is really irritating. But not now!

* * *

Brennan's head moved cautiously between the two men. The corners of both their mouths were twitching in fleeting smiles. Sweets looked shocked but triumphant. Perhaps a little amused.

Booth just looked happy. Brennan could not, for the life of her, figure out why.

"What did I say?" she asked, sounding a little surprised. "Why are you both smiling? Why are you both silent?"

When they continued their silence, mouths growing ever closer to smiling, both staring at nonexistent objects on the opposite walls, Brennan changed tack.

"Say something. It's unnerving when you're both silent. God knows you talk enough…" she grumbled, sitting back heavily in her chair and crossing her arms. She pouted, frowning at Sweets, who happened to be conveniently in her line of sight.

Suddenly, she felt Booth's mouth on her cheek. Then Sweet's eyes on her. Then a tingling warmth replacing Booth's lips. Wide eyed, she turned to Booth. Confusion was etched in her face.

Booth just kept smiling, now staring at her rather than the invisible spot on the wall. She didn't dare look at Sweets, fearing the smug grin she knew he was sporting. Before she could speak, Booth interrupted her.

"Thank you, Bones," he whispered, reaching over to touch her cheek, tracing where he'd just kissed with the back of his fingers. Removing his hand, he turned to Sweets. "Can we leave now?" he asked. His voice was now perfectly calm, quiet. He smiled sweetly, and even with his education, Sweets had trouble deciding whether Booth was playing him or just contented.

Still, he was almost too shocked to speak. He needed to see the other two agents anyway. And Lord knows they'd be one hell of a lot easier to deal with. He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, go."

Booth smiled again, and took a still-confused-looking Brennan by the hand, quickly replacing it on her back when she'd stood up. Sweets shook his head at their backs as Booth leaned down to whisper something apparently funny, and probably directed at him, in Brennan's ear.

_Kill me now,_ he thought as the second pair waltzed through the door with awfully smug looking smiles. _Kill. Me. Now._

* * *

"So. How has it been going for you two?" Sweets began, glad to have a simpler case.

Alex looked at Laura and gave her 'The Signal'. Laura immediately launched into a tirade about Alex's annoying habit of stealing her razor, while he launched into his own rant about Laura's insistence on putting nutmeg in the coffee every morning.

While Booth and Brennan had been in their session, which had lasted well over an hour, they had managed to get rid of Cullen for enough time to rehearse an entire hour's worth of meaningless nonsense to get out of actually being psychoanalyzed.

And judging by Sweets' expression, they'd almost succeeded in five minutes.

"Okay, okay! Guys!" Sweets commanded. Alex and Laura looked at him blankly, but instantly shut up. "Thank you. Now. Agent Rice, if you'd like to go first."

"Oh, please, call me Kirk," he amended without pause. Sweets looked baffled, while Laura stifled a giggle.

"Kirk? It says here your given name is Alex," Sweets read confusedly.

"Yes, that's right," Alex nodded. "But ever since I was a kid, I've had this affinity with Captain Kirk from _Star Trek_. See, when I was a kid, I fell out of this tree, and landed flat on my back. And that night, I saw an episode of _Star Trek _where Captain-"

"Alex – Kirk," he amended, earning a giggle from Laura. "I'd love to hear about that some time, but there are more pressing matters…"

"Oh! Of course! Onward with the pressing matters!"

"Shut up, Alex," Laura butted in. "Stop being ridiculous. Just come over here and kiss me, you sexy beast!"

Sweets just about fell off his chair. _What the hell is going_ on_ in this house?!_

* * *

"So, how did it go, you two?" Cullen bombarded as soon as Booth and Brennan rounded the corner. Booth took his hand off Brennan's back, and walked around the counter to the coffee pot. He was going to need a lot more than this if he was going to get through the day alive.

"Fine," Booth shrugged. Brennan hid a smile from Cullen, but Booth just caught it out of the corner of his eye and grinned in response. Cullen was a little lost, but hid it as expertly as he could. He was used to being lost with these two anyway.

"Did you get anything resolved?"

"Resolved? Nothing needed resolving…" Booth trailed off casually with another shrug. Cullen looked skeptical.

"Something _always_ needs resolving with you two. Arresting family members, being kidnapped, left at the altar…"

"How do you know about that?" Brennan demanded.

"Doctor Brennan. I know _everything_ that happens with my agents," he replied calmly. Brennan looked annoyed, where Booth looked amused. _If only he knew…_ he laughed to himself. Instead of saying anything, however, he simply ignored Cullen as politely as he could.

"Bones, want a coffee?" he offered, handing her a mug regardless of her answer. She smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Bones," Booth said, winking. Brennan rolled her eyes at his cockiness. All Booth really wanted to do was get rid of Cullen. They had things to talk about.

Again.

* * *

"Bye, Sweets!" Laura said impishly, sweetly. Alex slung an arm around her waist, yanking her close, but making sure he was out of Cullen's sight. It was fun with Sweets, but just plain dangerous with Cullen. As the car drove off, Alex and Laura burst into fits of laughter as she slapped his butt.

"You're a sexy beast, Alex Rice," she growled. He again tugged her closer and began pretending, debatably, to gnaw on her neck. Booth and Brennan sat in the lounge room, made uncomfortable by this display.

"That's a little disgusting," Booth finally decided, scrunching his face up. Brennan laughed.

"Yeah," Brennan agreed, still not able to take her eyes off the two. Booth's face lit up next to her and he nudged her shoulder with his.

"Hey Bones. I bet you twenty bucks he's the one to pull away."

* * *

"So what did you two do to Sweets?" Booth asked as soon as he'd recovered from losing twenty bucks to his partner.

"Oh, you know, this and that," Alex said with an evil smirk. Laura looked up at him almost sexually and grinned. Laura turned her attention back to Booth and Brennan.

"Well, we figured since you two seemed to be having all the fun, we'd join in," she stated simply but happily. Booth and Brennan looked confused.

"What do you mean, 'fun'?" Booth scoffed. Brennan shot him a confused look. It was Alex's turn.

"Oh, come on!" He paused, holding out his hands, palms-up in an indicative gesture. When he was met with questioning looks, he rolled his eyes. "Geez, you two have sexual tension up the wazoo!"

Laura nodded in agreement.

"What? Hear that, Bones? He's like a male Angela…"

"What's a 'wazoo'?"

"It's an expression, Bones."

"Why? Who would create an expression so meaningless?"

"You know what, Bones, just…just…shush."

"See!" Alex exclaimed suddenly. Booth and Brennan turned to him. "Sexual tension." Laura nodded again.

"This-" Booth indicated between himself and Brennan "-is not 'sexual tension'. And why would you think it would be fun?! Not that it is. Not fun, I mean. Sexual tension. Not that we have any to have fun with."

Alex raised an eyebrow. It appeared to him that Brennan was the only one in the room not currently totally confused. But then he decided she was probably still musing over the definition of the word 'wazoo'.

"Oh, really. Talk about your blind love…" Alex muttered with a bemused shake of his head.

"Love? How did we get from sexual tension to love?" Brennan demanded. _Apparently she's discarded 'wazoo',_ Alex thought cynically. "I mean, if I were sexually attracted to Booth, it wouldn't necessarily mean I love him. Not that I _am_ sexually attracted to Booth," she added quickly.

Booth feigned hurt. "Not even a little, Bones?" he pouted playfully. Alex and Laura stared at each other in amazement. How the topic of conversation could be so blatantly illustrated without the offending parties even knowing was a mystery to them.

"Well, not as you're thinking, no."

"What does that mean? Why do I think differently than other people?"

"Not everyone. You and I think differently. I can separate sexual attraction and emotions. You, Booth, cannot."

"That's-"

"No, it's not. In any other situation, you'd be a superior mate, but because of our…situation-"

It was Booth's turn to cut in. "So you're saying that if we didn't work together, we'd have slept together by now?!" Booth asked incredulously. Alex mouthed _ten on Booth_ to Laura and she nodded, accepting his bet.

"Well of course not. If we didn't work together, we'd never have met," she stated logically. Alex rolled his eyes dramatically.

"How do you know? Maybe us meeting was fate," Booth challenged, quite aware of the fact that he was losing the argument.

"I don't believe in fate."

Both were silent, seated on the couch, staring at each other.

Laura smirked at Alex.

* * *

"Okay, so if we _had_ met…" All three faces turned from the TV to Booth.

"Booth, we've-"

"Humor me, Bones." He held out a hand imploringly. She was silent, but crossed her arms haughtily. "_If_ we had met, and we _didn't_ work together, are you suggesting that there is a _possibility_ that we would have…" He waved his hand around.

"Had sex? Yes. More than once? Probably not. I think there would have been a high probability of a one-off thing, but that would depend on other things, too."

Booth was shocked for a minute before he spoke. She was really saying…

"What things? And I don't do 'one-off' things."

"Do we have to go into this now?"

"When's better?" Booth pointed out, gesturing around the room. Brennan only pointed not-so-subtly at Alex and Laura who were not-so-subtly staring at Booth and Brennan.

Booth looked pointedly at them, and they rolled their eyes simultaneously and wandered into the kitchen. He then turned back to Brennan with an 'any-other-excuses?' face. Brennan sighed in defeat and slouched down in the couch a little further, as if to ward him off.

"So?" he pried.

"So what?"

To her surprise, instead of answering, he laughed.

"What?" she asked, now a little offended.

"You…" he chuckled. "You're all cute and pouty," he teased. Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Grow up, Booth."

"Hey, I'm not the one who's pouting, Bones," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Now, answer the question." Brennan didn't miss a beat, and wanted to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.

"Yes. We probably would have. Happy?" she snapped. The question was rhetorical, but Booth couldn't help but answer.

"I don't know. Happy and…unhappy," he said carefully. She looked at him questioningly, worried that her subconscious was just misinterpreting his words to fit its own agenda. "Well, you know…" he stuttered.

"No, Booth, I don't." She watched him squirm for a few minutes before continuing. Revenge was indeed sweet. "What did you mean, Booth?"

He cleared his throat. "I, uh…um…" He stopped, as if legitimately thinking of a response. She watched him, making sure he wasn't going to run. If she had to answer, so did he.

Suddenly, for the second time that day, she felt his lips on her skin.

Only this time, his lips were on hers.

His hand moved to her cheek, but he pulled away only a millisecond before her neurons began to kick in. Still, it was long enough to leave them both surprisingly breathless and giddy. He closed his eyes for a second before speaking, a smile playing on his still-tingling lips.

"You know what?" he whispered conspiratorially.

"What?" she managed.

"I think Sweets missed us."

* * *

Couch scene? Do you love me still?


	12. Friday

**Spoilers:** Flatlines

**Disclaimer:** Another surprise visitor, and some couch-related-fluff!

**Author's Note:** Okay. So. I've decided to include a little more of Alex and Laura alone in this chapter, rather than all four of them. Just for my own (and hopefully your) amusement. I painted (literally) my face today, and now it's hot. Temperature-wise, I mean. I don't think that's a good sign. Either that, or it's warm in here.

* * *

Brennan tugged the blankets tighter around her in her sleep, conscious on some level of the cold that surrounded her. As the blankets came to the crook of her neck comfortingly, they were pulled off her feet.

Slowly waking, she groaned and tucked her feet closer, bending her knees. As she did, she heard a yelp. Sitting up instinctively, she cast a terrified glance at the source of the noise.

It was Booth.

On seeing her sitting up, he grabbed her with a strong arm and pulled her back down so that she was half sitting against his chest. He snuggled into her to get warm, pulling her a little closer.

"Booth!" she scolded. She wasn't sure whether she was scolding him for being there, for waking her or for pulling her. She decided it was all three.

"Bones, you'll freeze to death," he snapped back. He picked up her blankets and threw them back over her, marveling at the fact that they'd somehow managed to become _their_ blankets as they slept. Not that he'd had anything to do with _helping_ that process, of course…

But she never had to know. Never would.

"Booth, it's cold, yes, but it's not that cold. It would take temperatures of - ah!" she exclaimed as Booth yanked her blankets back off. "Fine, you've made your point."

"Thank you. Now, will you lie back down?" He studied her, the question more of a demand than a question. Brennan rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, sitting upright against his chest now, as Booth lay on his side.

"No."

"Why not?" he asked, feigning indignation.

"Because you're all grabby."

"I think you mean 'crabby', Bones."

"No, I mean grabby." She looked pointedly at his left hand, which had found its way to her waist as they'd been speaking. She grabbed his index finger between her finger and thumb as if it were a foreign object and dangled it in front of them. He took his hand back and put it back on her waist.

She shot him a look over her shoulder to tell him that she was, at least on the outside, not impressed. He only grinned at her.

They'd made definite progress the previous night. They were sleeping in the basement again; still on two mattresses, but Booth had insisted on pushing them together again.

But the best thing. The best thing was that his kissing her hadn't freaked her out too much. She'd frowned and rambled something about decency and timing, but once his lips met hers again, she'd kept quiet for a while.

"We have to get up," she tried lamely. She was sure, before, in her conviction that she wasn't attracted to Booth. She'd convinced herself of as much. But then last night…

Last night he'd done something that threw all that into chaos. Now, she was not only having trouble keeping her thoughts in line; she was terrified.

And being terrified was not something Temperance Brennan did particularly well. Nor was it something she liked to demonstrate.

Which, for the most part, only made her irritable. And she was taking it out on Booth. After all, it was his fault.

* * *

"Mornin' sunshine!" Laura exclaimed as Alex stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. Out of the four, Alex was the most prone to getting out of bed and heading straight for the coffee. No shower needed. It was a force of habit.

"Mm," he grumbled in response, almost tripping over his own feet as he ambled into the kitchen. He grunted and pointed to the coffee, eyelids fluttering in sleepiness. Laura chuckled, ever the early-riser, and poured him a cup. He took a sip and she could swear his eyes doubled in size.

"Ah. Good. You?" he asked, pointing to the coffeemaker. He may have his caffeine, but he hadn't had sufficient amounts to form full sentences yet. That came with the food.

"Yes, sweet, do you see anyone else who could have made it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the empty rooms. Alex followed suit.

"Oh," he smiled lopsidedly. "True." He looked around the kitchen, nodding slowly at nothing in particular.

"Toast?" Laura offered with a smile. Alex grinned in a way she could swear she'd never seen him grin before.

"Please."

* * *

"Why the kitchen?"

Four food-full faces turned to Brennan.

"Huh?" Booth managed through a mouthful of cereal. She rolled her eyes as if he should have understood her.

"Every morning we've been here, we've all met in the kitchen. Why? Surely the lounge room is more comfortable…" She frowned and Booth had to force himself not to laugh. She was actually serious.

"Fish gotta swim, men gotta eat," Booth replied, pounding his chest in a way strikingly similar to a gorilla. A development in the relationship didn't mean that it wasn't still fun to tease His Bones. That would never cease to be fun. _The way she gets all pouty-Shut up. Focus._

"Mature, Booth. And now you're only being sexist to annoy me. Which, by the way, is no more mature," she snapped. Booth held up his hands in surrender, wondering whether what he'd said had really annoyed her.

Alex looked at Laura and flashed his eyebrows and pursed his lips in lieu of whistling at the bickering. Whistling tended not to be the most subtle way of doing things. She held up five fingers and mouthed _Brennan_. Alex nodded. Since yesterday, they'd been betting on who had the least self-control, not the most.

"I didn't mean offence, Bones," Booth warned. Brennan looked angry, then frowned in confusion before shrugging and getting up for another coffee. All within less than five seconds.

"Then why did you say it know it would annoy me?" she challenged. Now, though, he detected a hint of amusement. Now, she was playing, too.

"Because it's fun, Bones," he said as he moved behind her into the kitchen.

"You do know that that kind of attitude is congruent with a sociopathic pathology, don't you?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Bones," he tutted, moving to stand directly behind her so they were just touching. He bent his head to her ear. "Psychology."

Brennan spun and glared at him. He'd won, and she didn't like it. Now, however, had probably not been the best time to feel the need to face her rival. They stood in the kitchen toe-to-toe, and because of his previous head-dipping, they weren't far from lip-to-lip.

Not far at all.

Alex choked silently. They'd flirted, but this? This was just…_intense_. Laura nodded and palmed a twenty, smiling impishly at Booth and Brennan from the table.

Booth now had one hand on the bench; the other had made its way to Brennan's chin, one finger hooked under it. He leaned in and Brennan pushed herself back against the counter further, trying pathetically to escape. At least, that's what she had been telling herself when Booth kissed the corner of her mouth.

The kiss was so fleeting that if they had been immersed in another culture, it would probably have been used as a greeting. But they weren't; and it wasn't.

With the hand he had on the bench, Booth grabbed the coffee pot and turned, taking it back to the table, leaving Brennan with an utterly baffled look. He looked back at her when she didn't follow him and grinned.

Brennan rolled her eyes, and Booth was again amazed that their relationship was so similar. If not for Booth kissing Brennan against the bench, this could have been a perfectly normal scene for them.

Brennan sauntered back to the table, trying to think of a fitting revenge. Booth refilled his coffee obliviously, picking up a disregarded section of newspaper from the table. Brennan sat down almost unnoticed by Booth and took his coffee.

Laura noticed and snorted while Alex grinned, watching for Booth's reaction as Brennan drank his coffee. To everyone's surprise, Booth remained oblivious the whole time. Brennan shrugged at Laura and simply finished off the coffee in silence.

About five minutes later, Brennan stood up, placed the mug on the bench and moved towards her room. Suddenly, Booth jumped up from the table and grabbed her from behind. She stiffened and yelped at the contact, but had to make a conscious effort to continue her air of annoyance.

"You stole my coffee," he growled into her ear quietly. Brennan smiled and shrugged, grabbing Booth's hands, unwrapping them from her waist for the second time that morning. "Oh, no you don't!" He grabbed her again.

"What are you going to do, Booth, join me?" she asked with a cynical expression. Booth grinned.

"Well that depends on where you're going."

* * *

"So the _black_ one goes here when the _red _one is…_there_…?" Brennan said slowly. Booth nodded encouragingly.

"You're finally getting it!" He held his hand up in a high-five request. She ignored it and stared at the cards in front of her. "But we do tend to refer to 'the red one' as an Ace," he added patronizingly.

Brennan ignored him again, continuing to stare at the cards, trying to learn the rules. Booth put down his last card triumphantly. "And that's _Rummy_!" he announced excitedly. Brennan frowned.

"There's not need to be cocky," she pointed out, annoyed at having been beaten.

"Oh, come on! I just beat my genius partner in a card game. I think I've earned at least one whole minute of cockiness." He grinned and Brennan rolled her eyes at him, picking up the deck to shuffle it.

"I'd say two," Alex pointed out from the other end of the table. He and Laura had taken another deck of cards and had been playing their own weird rendition of two-player _Texas Hold'em_ while Booth had been teaching Brennan _Rummy_. They'd both only played one game.

"Hear that, Bones? Alex thinks I should get two minutes!" He sounded like a child complaining that he didn't get as much ice cream as his brother. Brennan narrowed her eyes at Booth, handing him the deck.

"Yeah, but Alex doesn't have to deal with you like I do," she snapped playfully. Booth grinned and started dealing the cards.

"You know you love it, Bones." But she was studying her cards too hard to notice. He smiled as her brow creased in concentration. _She's so cute when she's confused…_

Brennan won the next five games.

* * *

"Seriously, Temperance, that's just cruel. Not even a pity win!" Laura giggled. Ever since Brennan had beat Booth in their second game, Alex and Laura had stopped their playing to watch as Booth got his butt kicked over and over. Ever since, Laura had been in a fit of giggles; mostly prompted by Booth's expressions.

By the second win, Brennan was hardly even trying.

"Pity?" Booth scoffed. "Pfft, I don't need your pity," he grumbled. "I don't want to play anymore." Brennan laughed at him.

"Oh grow up, Booth. You didn't think that once I learned the rules I wouldn't beat you? Please!"

"Now who's being cocky, Bones?" he snapped.

"She earned it," Laura added in Brennan's defense. Alex chuckled and began clearing the mug-and-card strewn table while Booth and Brennan stared at each other.

"See that, Booth? I earned it."

"Well, technically, I didn't _see_ anything," he pointed out bitterly. She only smiled smugly.

"Now you're just nitpicking because you're touchy."

"Am not."

"Are too. I bet if I told Sweets about this, he'd say something bad about you," she tried. Psychology really wasn't her thing. Booth stopped short.

"Wait, since when did Sweets have valid opinions?"

"Since I'm the one who's helping you work together."

Booth and Brennan whirled in the chairs, spotting Sweets standing near the doorway. Booth rolled his eyes.

"Who let in the pre-pubescent one?" Sweets frowned, slightly offended as Laura raised her hand.

"Guilty," she shrugged indifferently, moving back to the kitchen to help Alex clean up.

"So, what brings you here, Sweets? A _Wiggles_ concert in town?"

"Insulting me will get you nowhere, Agent Booth. I thought you'd have learned that by now." He turned to Brennan. "How are you, Doctor Brennan?"

"What would you say if I told you that Booth was nitpicking because-"

"Really, Bones. Let it go," he said, exhaling slowly for emphasis. Sweets grinned. Their relationship would never change. Brennan looked at him grumpily, crossing her arms.

"You're just mad that I beat you," she mumbled. Sweets kept smiling, shaking his head.

"Wait," Booth said. "You never said why you were here."

"I'm here to observe."

"You were here to observe _yesterday_," Brennan told him as if he were an invalid.

"Wrong, Doctor Brennan." She frowned, not liking being told she was wrong. "Yesterday I was here to evaluate. The bureau wouldn't let me stay for the whole week; it would defeat the purpose of the exercise anyway."

Brennan smiled and raised an eyebrow to Booth. "Hey, I think he really _did _miss us," she laughed. Booth grinned, both at the joke and at the reference point.

"I don't miss you. I can go a week without listening to your constant mocking perfectly fine," he defended. Booth looked at Brennan and they smiled at one another conspiratorially.

"Do you want a hug, Sweets?" Brennan offered, pouting in mock-pity. Sweets frowned. Booth just laughed again, wondering how stupid one really has to be to refuse that.

"Yeah, I think he needs a hug, Bones. Do you want a hug?" he turned to Sweets with a grin. Sweets glared at them both.

"You two seem to be getting along very well tonight," he tried. _If you can't beat 'em, baffle 'em._ He smiled inwardly at his proverb-manipulation-skills.

"We always get along," Brennan lied. Sweets couldn't help but laugh.

"Sure, Doctor Brennan; whatever," he laughed. Booth shrugged and ignored Sweets entirely.

"So, Bones, y'up for some extreme-TV-watching?" he proposed with a too-excited eyebrow waggle. Brennan shrugged.

"It's better than being analyzed by a pseudo-scientist."

"Hey!" Sweets defended as they got up and moved to the lounge room, settling comfortably in the couch; comfortably close, but not touching. Sweets made a mental note just as Alex and Laura wandered in from the kitchen looking awfully pleased. Booth flipped the remote cockily and flicked on the TV.

_Typical controlling behavior from Booth_, he noted. Brennan rolled her eyes at the choice of channels.

"Not again! We watched this last night, Booth!" she complained. Alex spoke up from his chair.

"We didn't." Sweets frowned. _Alone time and a couch…_

"Um, where were you two?" Sweets asked as casually as he could. He couldn't.

"In bed," Laura replied casually, though Sweets detected a flash of expression pass Alex and Laura's faces.

Booth looked at Brennan and made a crude gesture pertaining to Laura's comment.

"What are you doing, Booth? You look like you're having a fit." He narrowed his eyes at her for spoiling his joke. She shrugged. "If we're going to watch this, can we just watch it?" She was a little annoyed all of a sudden. _Touchy,_ Sweets noted.

"Get off, Booth!" Brennan suddenly exclaimed half way through the movie. The other three agents' attention moved to Brennan who was currently being smothered by Booth's legs.

"Oh, sorry, Bones! I didn't see you there," he apologized.

"How could you not see me? You knew perfectly well that I was here, and-"

"It was a joke, Doctor Brennan," Sweets pointed out sympathetically.

"Well it obviously wasn't a very funny one," she snapped. Laura giggled and Brennan frowned.

"It was funny, Bones, see, because I _could_ see you."

"But that's just stupid! How is stating reality funny?"

"Because I _wasn't_ stating reality. I was stating something that was blatantly _not_ reality."

"That's even more ridiculous."

"You know what, Bones? Just be quiet. It isn't my fault that you don't have a sense of humor," he added shrugging as if he were really denying responsibility.

"I have a very god sense of humor. My books have often been called 'witty'-"

Booth cut her off. "Doesn't count."

"Wait, why doesn't that count? I wrote them."

"Because they're books. It's one thing to be 'witty' on paper; it's another to get a funny joke." He held up a finger in emphasis.

"Why are they-"

This time she was cut off by his hand on her mouth. Sweets was shocked. This kind of contact was generally incredibly limited between these two. The fact that she wasn't yelling or biting his hand meant that something, mostly undetectable, had shifted. He was on full alert while Alex and Laura placed their bets.

"No," was all Booth said. Brennan looked as if she wanted to hurt him, but Booth kept his hand there and leaned in closer, raising his eyebrows. "They're very different, Bones," he repeated as if he wanted to brainwash her.

She rolled her eyes and let herself sink back into the couch in defeat, effectively removing his hand. Booth grinned at her expression and turned his attention back to the TV.

"Booth," Brennan said after a few seconds. Booth looked at her questioningly. She looked pointedly at her legs, barely visible under his. He grinned and turned his attention back to the TV.

Sweets inhaled and exhaled in slow, measured breaths. He only had one mental note, now.

_Finally. _

* * *


	13. Saturday

**Spoilers:** Math test tomorrow. That spoiler enough for you? Kill me now. I have that horrible sinking feeling that I'm going to do badly no matter how much I study. Though, that's probably a subconscious way of shirking my studies…'subconscious' my arse...

**Disclaimer:** Whatever. I've got too much homework to bother with this.

**Author's Note:** Snuggling? Sweets? What could be better?!

* * *

"So…" Sweets began, drawing the word out. "Where am I sleeping? This house have a spare room?" He looked around expectantly. Laura groaned.

"Room?" Brennan and Alex questioned simultaneously.

"No. Oh, no, no, no, Sweets. Not happening," Booth protested adamantly, holding up a hand as if to block the sight of the psychiatrist from his eyes.

"Agent Booth, I don't see why-"

"You said it yourself, Sweets: It'd defeat the purpose of the exercise," Booth interrupted through gritted teeth. He was having enough trouble with things as it was; having Sweets there was not going to help. He removed his feet from Brennan's legs, earning a sigh of mock-relief from her.

He ignored her dramatics.

"You can't stay, Sweets. There are only four bedrooms," Booth continued. Two of them were vacant, but what the hell. Booth didn't know, either, that technically, three were vacant.

"Agent Booth. You have, as of now, two days of this assignment left. If anything productive was going to happen, chances are it's already happened. I need to see how the two of you-" he gestured between Booth and Brennan "-interact in this kind of setting."

"Not to mention the four of you," he added, looking at Laura and Alex, who were currently both covering their smiled behind their hands. Booth shot them a questioning look.

Brennan stood up. "I'm going to bed," she said simply. A chorus of goodnights came from Alex, Laura and Sweets, while Booth shot her a warning stare. She looked at him, confused. "What?"

He drew in a breath and blew it out steadily. "Fine. The kid can stay," he snapped, defeated. Sweets looked thrilled.

"Really, Agent Booth, you won't know I'm here."

"Yeah. Right. Whatever, Sweets. Just don't come running to me if you have a nightmare," he mocked, following Brennan out of the room.

* * *

Booth and Brennan met again in the kitchen after arranging Sweets to sleep in what was Brennan's room, putting all her things into Laura's, which was surprisingly uncluttered. Booth had made the specific decision to actually wear pyjamas this week, and was partially relived when Brennan came down the stairs in sweat pants and an old t-shirt. He wasn't the only slob in the house.

"He just wants to spend time with us. He has no friends his own age," Booth whispered to Brennan as they left the room. She smiled, but didn't fail to notice that Booth's mouth was unnecessarily close to her ear. She put her arms around herself as they moved down the stairs in a surprisingly vulnerable gesture. Booth mistook the reason and slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

"Cold, Bones?" he asked casually. She shrugged, but decided better of it.

"Yeah. Cold. They should put some heaters down here…"

"Yeah, Bones, but they don't actually expect people to _sleep_ down here," he chuckled. She rolled her eyes, then realized that they'd stopped walking. They stood in the doorway, Booth's arm still shrugged around her shoulders protectively. She looked at him as if to ask something, before he lowered his head towards hers.

She closed her eyes as she felt his breath, then jerked back, trying to move out of Booth's grip.

Unfortunately for her, on the way back, she smacked into the doorway and instinctively bounced back into Booth, landing herself half on the floor of the small room and half on the mattresses they'd dumped on said floor. She also landed Booth half on top of her.

_Well done, Brennan,_ she scolded herself. _That was effective_.

"Booth, get off me," was all she said. Booth laughed; Brennan closed her eyes momentarily as she felt the laugh reverberate through his chest, but forced them open again.

"Oh yeah? Or what?" he challenged. There was mostly playfulness, but a little of something disturbing familiar in his voice. She narrowed her eyes as he shifted his position, so he was lying across her instead of _on_ her, one hand propping up an amused face. They stared at each other.

"Or I will tell Sweets," she threatened, both serious and amused. She looked, to Booth, to be rather proud of her comeback. He only laughed again, causing her to grit her teeth.

"Huh. Well then I'd tell him you pulled me. That you are subconsciously attracted to me," he countered, squirming almost painfully on top of her.

"I don't believe in psychology." She looked like a defiant child, and Booth couldn't help but pinch her cheek with his free hand. She pulled out of his grasp, only succeeding on shifting their positions again. Now she was totally on the cold floor, and she and Booth were slightly more parallel.

"Just because you don't believe in it, Bones, doesn't mean it doesn't exist," he replied smugly. She glared at him as her hands found their way to his shoulders to shove him off.

"Uh, uh, uh, Bones," he tutted, as he removed her hands from his shoulders and pinned them to the floor above their heads. He removed one hand to prop himself up again so as not to hurt her. More than necessary.

She continued to glare at him, but he could see she was affected by this. _At least you're not the only one,_ he muttered inwardly.

"Booth," she warned quietly. He shrugged and smiled.

"Why did you pull away?" he whispered, again a little closer than necessary. She rolled her eyes as if she'd told him thirty times.

"Because, Booth. I…you…you were going to kiss me!" she suddenly blurted. She shut her mouth tightly, embarrassed by the outburst, and the content of what she was saying. To her shock, Booth laughed.

"Squints do have excellent deductive skills, I must say," he pondered mockingly. She jerked her hand half-heartedly, trying to get it back from Booth's bigger one. He smiled again.

"Shut up and get off me," she said, sounding a little more exasperated than angry now.

"Too grabby?" he pouted mockingly.

"Yes, you - shut up. Stop mocking me; it's not a flattering look on you," she huffed. Booth smiled genially and let go of her hands. She sighed with relief and moved again to shove Booth off. Suddenly his hands gripped her waist and he pulled her on top of him, maneuvering himself onto the mattress as he did so.

She sat up, and swatted his chest before she realized that she was straddling him on the bed, his hands on her waist still. He looked her up and down appreciatively before smirking at her. She rolled her eyes as if to say _men!,_ before dragging herself off him and diving under the blankets as quickly as she could, her back turned to him.

Once out of sight, Booth closed his eyes part in thanks, part in regret, but mostly to calm himself down. Fun as it had been, the floor-sparring had been a little too risky for someone who liked to have control over every situation.

Opening his eyes, he grinned at the back of Brennan's head. He could as good as see the annoyance seep out of her. He chuckled before dragging the blankets off her and onto himself.

_Screw control_, he thought bitterly as she automatically rolled over to grab them back. She landed directly against Booth's chest, and his arm went around her with the blankets. She looked at him cynically, eyebrow raised. His Charm Smile was magnificent.

"Don't fight it, Bones," he said quietly before pulling her closer and snuggling into her like a child. "Everything happens eventually."

* * *

Brennan moved to stretch, only to feel a weight tightening on her waist. She opened her eyes as she remembered why. She bit her lip. _What now?_

"Bones," Booth mumbled. Brennan started, then calmed herself when she realized he was still asleep. She started again when she wondered why he was saying her name in his sleep.

Shrugging, she decided to talk to him while he was asleep, both avoiding confrontation, and, with any luck, being more persuasive.

"Booth. Let go," she whispered loudly, poking him in the shoulder. He pulled her closer and buried his face into her neck. She let out a sharp breath while Booth breathed heavily. He sounded almost relieved. She tried not to notice how comfortable she was; how warm.

She cleared her throat. Maybe she'd have to wake him up. He didn't stir.

"Booth." Nothing.

She tried removing his arm from around her waist, but he was already holding her too securely to warrant that kind of movement.

She put a hand to his hair to try and pull his head back, only succeeding in making him groan and tighten his grip in his sleep. She swore under her breath.

"Well that's not very ladylike," he muttered against her neck.

* * *

"That was mean, Booth."

"What? What did I do?" he exclaimed, surprised.

Alex and Laura Looked at Sweets as Booth and Brennan walked into the kitchen, still in their pyjamas. Brennan looked particularly annoyed, but neither she nor Booth acknowledged the other three agents.

"I thought you were asleep. You were just using it as an excuse to grope me!" She paused, her temper seeming to fail her a little as Booth smiled. "Again," she muttered. He smiled sweetly and stepped closer, bringing his hands to her upper arms.

"Do I need an excuse?" Her eyes flashed to his, and Laura flashed a twenty at Alex. Sweets just stared.

Brennan's jaw bulged in annoyance and self-control. Booth grinned when she didn't respond and turned her towards the kitchen. They both stopped when they saw the three shocked and amused faces staring back at them. Booth's hands fell from Brennan's arms.

"So…" he began slowly. "Coffee?"

* * *

"Nothing. Happened," Booth scowled.

"Hello, people! Brick wall!" Sweets exclaimed, motioning between himself and the pair. "You're not leaving until you tell me-"

"We didn't have sex."

Both heads swiveled to Brennan. She shrugged. "That's what you wanted to know, right?" Sweets opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Gee, Bones. You know the term 'private life'? Well, the operative word there is _private_," he hissed. She shrugged again.

"Well, he's shut up, hasn't he? And we didn't have sex, so I'm not lying. I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem _is_, Bones-"

"Whatever, Booth," she breathed, exasperated. He smiled at her triumphantly and she leaned back in the couch. Booth grabbed her hand absentmindedly. She didn't react.

Sweets' face became a mask of surprise, though he controlled it well. Booth sighed. "Can we go? She's already told you, we didn't…you know…_do it_." Brennan snorted at Booth's choice of words.

"You know, Agent Booth, the fact that you can't say 'sex' is something in itself."

Booth scoffed. "I can say 'sex'." He subtly squirmed at the word.

"But not in relation to Doctor Brennan," Sweets challenged. It was almost a question. Their hands immediately disentangled. "Do you think there's something there?"

Booth glared at him. "No."

Brennan remained silent as Sweets continued to push.

"Booth, I want you to tell me you and Doctor Brennan had sex." Booth and Brennan both looked shocked. Booth made a few incoherent sounds before actually speaking.

"I…uh…why? I already told you we didn't," he babbled.

"I just want to see if you can do it."

"You're getting enjoyment out of this, aren't you? Stupid child…" he muttered under his breath. Sweets rolled his eyes.

"Insulting me will get you nowhere." He briefly wandered how many times he'd had to say that to Booth. To himself _around_ Booth.

"Just say it, Booth," Brennan said, sounding somewhat bored.

"You say it," he snapped back. She almost laughed at his childish comment, but she couldn't escape Booth gaze. They stared at one another for a few minutes, even as Sweets continued to talk.

"Agent Booth?"

"I…we…uh…made love," he finished as quickly as was humanly possible. Brennan stared at Booth. What was he talking about?

"Agent Booth?" was all Sweets said. He raised an amused eyebrow.

"What? I said it, I want to leave," he persisted, insistent as a child. Brennan finally caught up.

"Wait, why did you say that?" she asked, confused. Booth shrugged.

"Say what?"

"That we made love," she stated simply. Booth blushed slightly, but his jaw clenched.

"Because Sweets told me to," he replied nonchalantly. Sweets grinned.

"No, actually, I didn't, Booth. I told you to say that you had sex…" Sweets regarded him with smugly professional amusement. Booth folded his arms and sunk into the couch.

"Same thing," he spat, waving a hand as if to clear the air of awkwardness. Brennan sat up suddenly.

"Oh, come on! You were the one who spent an hour trying to convince me it wasn't!" she whined, sounding like a child just proved wrong but not willing to let go.

"Shut up, Bones! You're not helping!" he hissed at her quietly. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged as if to absolve herself from any responsibility.

"What? It isn't my fault you can't say sex," she rebutted. Now she was just amused. He could see the glint in her eyes that was reserved particularly for teasing Booth. "That's a problem for Sweets."

Hearing his name, Sweets cleared his throat. Both heads turned to him, one amused, one seething. He suddenly worried for his physical safety. He turned his attention to the glaring Seeley.

"And how does this make you feel?"


	14. Saturday Night Handcuffs

**Spoilers:** Nup!

**Disclaimer:** Because it's their last night, I decided to have some fun. Hehe. This is probably the second last chapter. So reviews are appreciated! And ideas as to how to end it. I have a few, but I'd like to know what you think.

**Author's Note:** Um, the Snow White thing? Personal annoyance. The question has been irking me for ages. If anyone has any reasons, feel free!

* * *

To Sweets' surprise, Booth leaned over to whisper in Brennan's ear. She nodded solemnly and Booth stood up, moving confidently and purposefully out of the room.

Sweets opened his mouth to stop him, but Brennan cut him off. "He'll just be a minute. I…uh…I think you're questions just put him off a little," she lied. Sweets bought it, probably still too baffled to realize her lie. He just turned to her and nodded dumbly.

After a few minutes of silence, "How did it make _you_ feel, Doctor Brennan?"

"You're very persistent," she replied icily. He shrugged, him smug expression returning.

"I have to be with you two. So. How do you feel hearing Booth say all that?" Suddenly, Brennan grinned at him and he felt something cold on his hand and heard a click. He spun to see a very happy looking Booth fastening a pair of handcuffs to the leg of coffee table he'd been sitting on, making sure to put them in the apex of the brace, so he couldn't slip them off.

The other end was attached to his wrist. Sweets' eyes widened. "Very funny, Agent Booth. Now un-cuff me," he said, sounding shocked, but bored. He looked between Booth and Brennan, who were currently grinning at each other happily. Sweets glared as Booth offered Brennan his hand over Sweets' head.

She smiled and accepted, gliding off the couch gracefully as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Booth! Brennan! Get back here _now_. Booth, this is _not_ a way to avoid answering questions!" he pleaded. Booth laughed as he heard a bang from the coffee table. Sweets slumped on the coffee table, defeated when Booth and Brennan ignored him. He took one last stab.

"I'm telling Cullen."

* * *

Laura giggled as she and Alex spotted Sweets, who now sat dejectedly on the coffee table, his chin in his free palm. Sweets looked up, grateful to hear someone not Booth or Brennan, who had been standing in the kitchen for the past hour discussing God-knows-what while he suffered.

"Agent Cullen, Rice!" he cried. Alex jumped.

"Oh, Doctor Sweets! I didn't see you there!" Laura teased. Sweets smiled acidly, as if threatening her to challenge him, under pain of therapy sessions.

"Can you just undo the cuffs?" he said, as more of a command than a request; as if he weren't cuffed to a coffee table.

"Well, I would, but I don't have my keys. Where on Earth did the cuffs come from?" Alex suddenly wondered. Sweets glared in the direction of the kitchen, still being ignored by Booth and Brennan.

"Say, why don't you ask Booth?"

* * *

"One five!"

"Cheat," the rest of the table chorused in unison. Brennan frowned. Booth grinned. He figured he had one shot at a card game that Brennan wouldn't win. He was right. She was terrible at it.

"What? Why do you all just assume-"

"We don't, Bones," Booth soothed, patting her shoulder and turning back to his cards with a grin.

"Then why do you always know? Is there a rule you forgot to teach me?" To her shock, Booth chuckled.

"Yeah, Bones. How to cheat." She smacked him with her elbow; both hands currently too full of cards.

"Shut up."

Alex and Laura just watched the altercation with amusement. Brennan, surprisingly, had not gotten angry. Booth's teasing had seemed to amuse her more than irritate her.

"It's because she-"

"Want me to gag you, too, Sweets?" Booth asked as if he were inquiring as to the weather. Sweets glared from his coffee table. It had been at least two hours now. At least.

"Agent Booth, this is highly unstable behavior! You're asserting your dominant-male status…"

As Sweets continued to ramble, Brennan leaned over to Booth. "I think he has a point, Booth."

"Be quiet, Bones. Don't encourage him!" Booth hissed. Brennan rolled her eyes. "Three kings."

Brennan instantly called 'cheat'. Both smugly flipped over the cards. Three kings.

"Damn straight, Bones. Damn straight," he chuckled. She frowned.

"But two kings have already been played this round! Laura and Alex both played one! Why didn't they call that, too?" she exclaimed. Laura and Alex grinned at each other, then at Brennan.

"Because they were cheating, Bones, and they knew that. If Alex cheated, chances are I could actually _have_ three kings. So he didn't call it. And same goes for Laura," he explained as if she were a child. Brennan thought for a second.

"Then why didn't _you_ call them? You're the one with three of the kings," she stated somewhat grumpily. He frowned. She finally had a point.

"Because, Bones: I don't want to end up with as many cards as you if I'm wrong."

* * *

"Why seven?" Brennan suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Booth grunted from his end of the couch, turning his head from the TV to Brennan. "Seven what?"

"Dwarves. Why are there seven?" Brennan looked utterly perplexed and Booth couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't know, Bones. You're the anthropologist," he shrugged. Brennan continued to frown.

"Snow White has nothing to do with anthropology, Booth," she breathed, rolling her eyes. "I've always wondered, actually. When I was little, my brother used to read it to me to get me to sleep…"

She stopped, suddenly remembering herself and the other four people in the room. She looked sheepishly at a smiling Booth. "That's sweet, Bones." He nodded. She blushed.

"But the point is, that I've always wondered why there's seven. And no one seems to know why," she exclaimed. She sounded near hysterics, and Booth laughed again.

"Maybe there is no reason, Bones. Maybe Disney just liked the number seven," he suggested. Brennan scoffed at him.

"Disney? It's the Grimm brothers, Booth," she corrected, rolling her eyes. "I always had that one. I liked it better. The Disney version is just dishonest. I don't see why people feel the need to make everything all…_fluffy_ for children-"

"Fluffy?"

"I mean, they're just as much animal as the rest of us. It's censorship, really. Why change the ending of a fairy tale? The end tends to be the 'moral', anyway; and isn't that what all these cartoons are trying to get across?" She took a deep breath and looked imploringly at the other four. Sweets was the only one to speak.

"But, Doctor Brennan, you have to take into account that the 'moral', the punishment in the original story consisted of the wicked stepmother dancing in red hot iron shoes till she dropped dead," he suggested. Booth gawked.

"Geez, Bones! You didn't mention _that_! It's no wonder they changed it. For kids?!" He whistled through his teeth. Brennan frowned at him.

"But that's the truth. That's how it was originally written. I know I'd be annoyed if they took my books and changed the endings." She had Booth a little stumped on that one.

"It's not the same, Bones."

"What? Of course it is," she challenged. "What's so different about it?"

"Uh…well, you write for adults…" he tried. He really had no answer. Brennan's eyes turned skyward.

"So did the brothers Grimm," she said smugly.

"My point exactly!"

Brennan raised her eyebrow at him. What the hell was he talking about. :Now you're just saying things to confuse me, aren't you?"

"Yup!" he chirped, wrapping an arm across her shoulders. She laughed somewhat disbelievingly at him. Sweets settled back onto the floor, the chairs having been taken up by their usual occupants. Besides, he was still cuffed to the table. Alex had been 'thoughtful' enough to put a plate of food in front of him at dinner.

Booth and Brennan were both silent, lost in thought, until Brennan spoke.

"Why is only one of their names' not an adjective?"

* * *

"Ah!" Booth sighed as he stretched his limbs, half across Brennan. She fidgeted under him. "I'm beat. Bed time, I think. Bones?"

"What?" she asked. Booth grinned at her obliviousness.

"Bed. Coming?"

"Oh. Um, yeah. I think I will. We have to get up early tomorrow anyway," she pointed out. Booth frowned in confusion. "We leave tomorrow…"

"Oh. Right. Huh. Forgot. Better make the most of it!" Only Brennan didn't get the innuendo, and Sweets groaned in disgust. Alex and Laura just looked at one another and grinned wickedly.

Booth stood, offering a hand to Brennan which she ignored. He rolled his eyes at her and moved his hand to her back as they left. "Night!"

Alex and Laura replied the same way, turning back to the TV.

"Hey!" Sweets called. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Booth looked at Brennan, then dug his free hand into his back pocket, picking out the key. He threw it over his head into the lounge room without looking, then made for the stairs, wrapping his arm around Brennan's shoulders as he laughed.

* * *

Brennan lay back against her pillows, looking over to Booth who lay with his hands linked behind his head. She laughed quietly. "If Sweets knew…"

"Yeah, well, he probably hasn't gotten himself out of those cuffs yet," Booth laughed.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" Brennan winced. Booth looked at her skeptically.

"Were _you_ comfortable with the questions he was asking?" Booth pointed out. Brennan frowned.

"No. But cuffing him to the table? Why did you have your cuffs anyway?" she suddenly realized. Booth flashed his eyebrows in a very lewd gesture.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased. Brennan frowned, missing the joke.

"Yes. I would. That's why I just asked," she stated. He rolled onto his side, head in palm.

"My hilarity is wasted on you…" he sighed, mock-mournful.

"Maybe you're just not funny," she bit. Booth scoffed, as if the idea were completely preposterous.

"No, Bones; I'm funny," he said simply. She rolled her eyes and dragged her blankets onto her, wriggling to get comfortable. Her eyes reopened when Booth laughed. She looked at him quizzically.

"You're cute when you're all wriggly," he laughed, prodding her ribs with a finger. She squirmed out of his reach with a frown, only to land on the floor. Booth laughed as he moved to occupy her spot, spreading-eagling himself across the two mattresses. She sat up, her blankets twisted around her legs, and glared at him. He grinned.

"Move, Booth."

He kept grinning, but this time, he was challenging her. "Not a chance," he stated, enunciating every word.

"I can hurt you, you know."

"I know. Why don't you lay down and do it?" he suggested with a flash of his eyebrows. Brennan continued to glare. "What, are you going to stay there all night?"

"No, I'm going up to my room," she huffed. Booth laughed quietly.

"Se you'd rather sleep with Sweets than with me?!" he cried. "I'm shocked and offended, Bones." He frowned at her. Realizing she was getting nowhere, she sunk down onto the farthest edge of the mattress she could find.

Her attempts were botched, however, when Booth moved to her, and, grabbing her by the waist, pulled her on top of him. He shrugged as she stared at him, taken aback. "You were going to fall off," he offered as means of justification. She quickly regained her wits, and much to Booth's disappointment, pulled herself off him and back onto the other side of the mattress, turning her back.

Booth left her, but didn't lose contact. "Goodnight, Bones," he whispered against her neck, pressing a kiss to her jaw. He heard her laugh.

"You're very persistent."

"Yes I am," he agreed unashamedly. She laughed again, but this time at her own inside joke.

"You have more in common with Sweets than you think, Booth," she told him. He grunted in annoyance before shutting his eyes and ducking his head into her hair. He kissed the back of her neck.

"Would Sweets do this?" he challenged. Despite how much this was affection her, she shrugged and turned slightly to face him, their lips just touching.

"Maybe."

He pulled back, obviosly annoyed by her answer. His eyes narrowed.

"How do you feel about that, Booth?"

* * *


	15. The End

**Spoilers:** Eh. Reviews for this chapter would be awesome! Anything else...? Uhh...Oh, this chapter is very snippety deliberately. I hope that works...

**Disclaimer:** I'm so sorry this took so long!! I hope it's okay…

**Author's Note: Last chapter!** Um, not much else to say, except thanks so, so much to all who reviewed _Partner Building_! You guys are all awesome, just so you know. I've gotten heaps of great advice and some awesome feedback on everything else. So thank you!

* * *

Brennan woke for the second time that week with Booth's arm slung around her waist. How this managed to keep happening was beyond her. It was all_ his_ fault, of course. She'd never provoke such things. She decided to wake him the same way she'd tried the day before, seeming not to have learned that this was probably impractical.

She sucked in a breath to concentrate on Booth's sleeping face instead of his arm around her and poked his shoulder. His arm twitched almost comically. She smiled, and did it again, prodding him harder. She frowned when all she elicited was an unhappy grunt.

Rolling her eyes, she prodded him harder. "Ow!" he exclaimed suddenly. She jumped from the outburst, but quickly regained her composure.

"Are you awake?" she asked stupidly. _Great, Brennan. Genius…_, she muttered inwardly.

"No," he replied, baffling Brennan. _Why no?_ Booth took her finger, which was still jabbed into his shoulder, and put it by her side. "Neither are you. Sleep."

"Booth, you're not making sense," she scolded. Booth opened one eye. The gesture reminded her of a fish and she shook her head at the bizarre connection.

"That's because I'm asleep, Bones." He shuffled closer, smiling. "_Or_, is it because _you're _asleep?"

"Could you please make sense?" she asked, exasperated.

"No." With that, he closed his eye, and put his hand over her eyes, prompting her to do the same. She pulled his hand off her face and dropped it. It reappeared on her waist.

She all but growled at him. Booth chuckled.

"You're impossible," she groaned with a small smile.

"Damn right," he laughed before putting his thumb to her temple, tracing it lightly, repetitively. "Sleep."

Brennan waited until Booth had fallen back asleep before she left.

* * *

"Hey, doc!" Laura called all too cheerily as Brennan moved into the kitchen. "How goes it?"

"Loud," Brennan snapped, looking pointedly at Laura. Laura just smiled and offered her some coffee.

"A bit crabby this morning? Didn't get any last night, huh?" she jibed. Brennan looked at Laura over her coffee.

"Get any what?"

Laura remained perfectly still while her eyebrows rose incredulously. "You know? Make with the happy?" she prompted. A small furrow appeared between Brennan's brows.

"I don't know what that means," Brennan replied apathetically as Sweets entered the room. Laura rolled her eyes to Sweets and mouthed _wow_. Sweets nodded.

Brennan left the room.

* * *

"Algernon," Brennan heard Alex sigh as she made another pot of coffee. It was really the only thing she could do in a kitchen.

"No! That was the mouse. It was…um, um…Ah! It's on the tip of my tongue!" Sweets exclaimed. Brennan moved silently around the kitchen, giving Booth a questioning look. He shrugged, it seemed he had no idea what they were talking about, either.

Alex and Sweets sat at the empty dining table, both frowning in concentration. Laura shot the same confused look at Booth and Brennan as she joined them presumably from her room. Alex perked up.

"Laura! What's Leia's home planet?" he suddenly asked. Brennan frowned, completely lost. Laura answered instantly.

"Alderon." She shrugged and poured herself a coffee. Brennan looked to Booth. Booth nodded, finally understanding.

"I don't get it. What are they talking about?" she asked Booth. The four agents stared at her. Booth chuckled.

"_Star Wars_," he answered simply. She frowned.

"You put them up to this, didn't you?"

"What? No! You think that just because they're talking about _Star Wars_, it has to do with me?" he asked, a little offended. "I wish. I could really have made that a whole lot more interesting…"

She smacked his arm.

"Hey! I just said it _wasn't_ me!"

"I know. But now you're just being smug." She glared at him as he grinned.

"But aren't I sexy when I'm being smug?" he teased.

Brennan lifted her face to his, only to whisper, "If only," in his ear before leaving. Alex sat a ten dollar note on the table and Laura swooped it up triumphantly. Sweets looked at them, confused. They both shrugged.

* * *

"Do we really have to clean up? Don't they have, you know, _people_ for this kind of thing? I do enough housework at _home_," Booth complained. Brennan rolled her eyes.

"The more you complain, the less is going to get done, Booth," she sighed. Booth smiled, holding up a finger.

"Ah, but will it? See, I figure if I just complain long enough, that you will have done all the work by the time I finish," he ended proudly. A pillow smacked him in the face.

* * *

Booth was wandering into the basement to see if there was anything else left to take upstairs, when he almost tripped on Brennan who sat at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Bones, not a good place to sit, there," he joked. Brennan didn't seem to hear him.

He sat on the step next to her. She had the same look she had when a case utterly confused her; which worried him, because that almost never happened. He put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't move. She stared into the dark basement with small frown.

His hand moved to the back of her neck as he twisted himself around so he could look her in the eye. "What's up, Bones? You're all Squinty," he joked, stroking her hair a little for effect. She looked at him and drew a deep breath, but remained silent.

"What are you thinking, Bones," he asked quietly. She cocked her head to one side as if considering whether or not to tell him.

"What do we do once we get back?" she asked finally. Her question sounded perfectly formulated. She was sure of it; her voice didn't waver or tremble at all. It was Booth's turn to sigh. He could honestly think of no answer.

"What, you didn't calculate all that with your brilliant Squint-brain before we…I..."

"No," she answered simply. He could tell she was a little regretful, but whether it was for what had happened between them, or because she hadn't thought it through, he didn't know.

The thought scared him. More than he cared for.

They were silent for a few minutes before Brennan let herself fall into Booth unexpectedly. He slipped off the step he was sitting precariously on and landed slightly up-side-down across the last three steps.

He groaned as Brennan laughed. "Hey! What are you laughing at?" he demanded. He wasn't going to have any permanent damage, but that didn't mean he wasn't terribly uncomfortable. "Are you going to help me, or what?" he begged, holding out a hand. She frowned mockingly, as if considering whether to help him or not.

He glared and hoisted himself off the step, dragging himself onto the floor. "Thanks a lot, Bones," he muttered. She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and grabbed the hand he held out, moving off the step to help him up.

Suddenly, he yanked her to the floor with him, making sure to catch her. She sat in his lap, stunned, for a few seconds.

"Now that was just juvenile, Booth," she scolded. He chuckled.

"Yeah, but I've got you in my lap, and it's the last day here…Better make the most of it, huh?" He flashed her a grin before pulling her mouth to his.

* * *

Alex shook the sheet he was taking from the bed. The fourth he'd used all week. "So," Laura started not-so-casually.

"So," Alex echoed. He threw her a pillow which she proceeded to de-case before throwing it to the floor with the rest of the pillows.

"Same as usual?" she asked casually, tossing him a blanket.

"Yep," he said brightly, catching it easily. "Same old, same old. Only on assignment," he agreed with a nod. Laura laughed.

"Wow. If that isn't contradictory…"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, a little lost. He looked around the room

Laura laughed again. "Well, the rules only really, _technically_, prohibit this _on assignment_," she reminded him. Alex laughed.

"True. Oddly true. Oh well. I suppose 'on assignment' is the only place it's really doable, anyway," he shrugged. Laura looked thoughtful for a second before flashing Alex an evil grin.

"So, last day…" she said slowly, obviously formulating something. The evil grin returned full-force. "Best make the most of it, huh?"

* * *

Sweets sat in the lounge room alone, waiting for someone to join him. He had absolutely no idea where everyone else was; they'd all disappeared about an hour ago. He hummed to himself, nodding along, drumming his fingers against each other.

For someone so adept at reading people, he'd somehow managed to close his mind off with these four people. Living with them was very different to therapy sessions. For one, he wasn't in control.

Booth had proved that point splendidly. Sweets winced as he remembered the coffee table incident. He was torn over putting that in his report. On the one hand, it had happened, and it said a lot about Booth, and his relationship with Brennan.

On the other hand, it was just humiliating.

Maybe if he was just a psychiatrist...But he wasn't. He was a trained FBI agent as well. And he'd been handcuffed to a coffee table by a patient. He sighed and leaned back in the armchair.

"Where the hell is everyone?" he asked himself. "This is totally unfair."

* * *

Agent Powers stood at the door waiting for someone to answer. When no one did, he pulled put his key, a little concerned. He wouldn't put it past them to be all passed out on the floor as a result of his little 'gift'.

He chuckled at the thought. He hadn't really had anything better to do, and the bureau had basically punished him by making him their mule for the week. He figured he'd make the most of it, and try to make some friends in the process.

Well, 'friends' was the wrong word. 'Connections' was probably a better one. He'd learned fast that the best way to move up, was to move _in_.

"Hello?" he called. He heard a loud bang from the direction of the kitchen and his hand instantly went to his weapon. "Hello?" he tried again.

All that came from the kitchen was a loud humming. He wondered if someone had been hurt.

Powers relaxed a little. "Who's that?" There was still no answer.

As Powers moved slowly into the kitchen Sweets appeared, headphones in his ears. He seemed to be dancing, but it was kind of hard to tell. He looked more like he was performing a pre-mating ritual. Powers couldn't help the laughter.

Finally, Sweets turned in his direction and yelled in surprise. Powers was still reeling with laughter. Sweets' face went bright red. He cleared his throat.

"Agent Powers," he stated dumbly. Powers held up a hand, waiting for the laughter to subside.

"Sorry, it's just-" He was cut off by his own laughter. Sweets glared. "Whoo. Sorry. Okay. Um, I'm just here to tell you that the car will be here soon. Probably ten minutes." He looked around the deserted rooms. "Um, where is everyone?"

Sweets shrugged, frowning. "Beats me," he sighed, defeated. Powers laughed again, nudging Sweets suggestively.

"Last minute booty-call, I betcha," he chuckled. Sweets' eyes widened in realization. Powers was probably right.

_Oh crap!_

* * *

Brennan squirmed on the hard floor, trying to find a comfortable position. Unfortunately, she soon realized that finding a comfortable position while pinned to a concrete floor is not particularly easy.

Booth looked up. "Are you okay, Bones?" he asked, a little concerned. His voice, however, was dripping with amusement and innuendo. She smiled a little before shoving him off her, relishing in his stunned expression. She sighed. Booth relaxed a little, seeing her smile, but was still confused. He raised an eyebrow.

"Concrete isn't very comfortable," she said by way of explanation. Rather than retort her comment, he looked thoughtful, his eyes tracing the room, then coming back to hers. He smiled, moving closer again.

"How's a wall?"

Brennan laughed disbelievingly and shook her head in wonder. He leaned up on one elbow, lying on his side, facing her. Putting a hand to her face, he brought it to his, stopping just as their lips met. "We'll have to change your mind about _one_ of them…"

Rolling her eyes as he moved closer, she shoved his shoulder, landing him on the floor again. She jumped up and walked up the stairs, throwing him back a smug smile. Walking around into the lounge room, a smile still plastered on her face, she saw Sweets and Powers in the kitchen talking animatedly about something.

She cringed. This was not a conversation she wanted to have anything to do with. Barely stopping, she made for the stairs again. Booth was still lying at the bottom of the stairs, grinning. Brennan couldn't see why. She'd won after all.

"Wall's good," she informed him about half way down the stairs.

Booth was up in a second.

* * *

Laura started at the knock on the door. Flashing a quick glance at Alex, she stood up, flattening her hair out as she straightened her clothes. Alex stood, barely hiding his grin. Laura silently unlocked the door; it wouldn't do to have other people know.

"Yeah?" she asked as she opened the door to a smiling Sweets. Sweets tossed his head towards the stairs.

"It's time to go," he said brightly. Laura looked at Alex and shrugged as Sweets walked away to find the elusive Booth and Brennan. Alex grinned.

"We'll be on assignment again soon enough."

* * *

"So," Sweets tried. Four pairs of eyes glared. One hand moved to a pair of handcuffs. "No? You guys are very unreceptive. It isn't healthy-"

"So help me God, Sweets," Booth warned. Sweets held up his hands in surrender.

"Chill, Booth," he suggested. Finally, after ten minutes of standing outside the now locked house, the other car pulled up. The four agents piled their things into one car, Brennan preferring to keep her tiny bag with her. Laura had been amazed that she'd put a week's worth of things into a bag that small.

Brennan had not-so-politely informed her that years of genocide-related practice had been put into use.

Booth instantly took the keys from the driver, claiming the wheel. Sweets began to tell Booth exactly why he did, before getting a pair of handcuffs dangled in his face. "You can take the other car, Sweets," Booth said with a smile. Sweets rolled his eyes.

"We have a session on Tuesday, Agent Booth," he said happily. Booth glared.

"Stupid kid," he muttered.

_Insulting me will get you nowhere, Booth_, Sweets reminded himself inwardly.

Brennan was the first to get in the car, eager to get back to the lab. Laura and Alex only stared at the house for a few seconds while Booth tried to stare down Sweets. Laura saluted the house, turning back to Alex.

"This was a good exercise, Agent Rice," she said. She wasn't distant or strictly professional, only very platonic. Alex nodded at her.

"Aye, it was," he said mock-wistfully, copping a fist to the shoulder. Booth shook his head at their change in behavior before getting into the car himself. Booth pulled out of the driveway after the other car had left.

"I am so glad to get out of there," he muttered, slightly incredulous. He shrugged as if to get rid of the feeling. Brennan leaned back in the passenger seat.

"Mm. I can't wait to get back to work. I've felt so useless for so long…" she mused more to herself than anyone else. Laura looked at Alex in amazement. All she could think about was work?! All Laura could think about was bed.

"I know what you mean, Booth. This is not a thing I want to repeat. _Ever_." She stretched in the small space of the back seat, looking over at Alex with a nod.

"Yeah," Alex sighed. Suddenly, he grinned, remembering his wallet. "But I made a killing."

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